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Onkar Singh in Delhi
The Manipur legislators on Saturday formed a committee to fight for the withdrawal of the Naga ceasefire extension to non-Naga areas by July 31, failing which they have threatened to resign.
The new forum is called 'MP's and MLA's of Manipur Forum for Integrity'.
Jointly addressing a press conference in New Delhi at Manipur Information Centre former deputy chief minister and the convenor of the new forum L Chandermani Singh, and former chief minister R K Dhorendra Singh said that they would accept nothing less then 'withdrawal of the ceasefire in the state'.
When asked by rediff.com what would be their reaction if the Central government did not agree to their demand Dhorendra Singh said, "Then we have no other option but to resign."
Singh also denied that they have been forced by the students to announce their intention to resign saying, "The students wanted us to resign within twenty four hours. We did not do that. We are not being guided by the students."
The forum includes three former chief ministers, the present speaker of the assembly Dhanjoy Singh, president of the state Bharatiya Janata Party R K Dhorendra Singh.
According to Chandermani Singh all the MPs and the MLAs from the state would be meeting the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday at 6.30 in the evening and impress upon him to withdraw the ceasefire in the 'best interests of the northeastern states'.
Asked if the government resolution in the Parliament assuring the territorial integrity of the northeastern states would be sufficient to assure them, Singh said, "We are only telling one line to the prime minister. Withdraw the ceasefire."
Dhorendra Singh said that the 'peaceful' agitation in Manipur might turn 'violent' if the Centre did not withdraw the ceasefire extension.
"We have been meeting all the political parties including the BJP, the Samata Party, the Telugu Desam Party, the Akali Dal to impress upon them our just demand. We hope that government would listen to us and take necessary action," he added.
Claiming that the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M) chief Issac Muviah wanted 1,20,000 sqare kilometres for 'Greater Nagaland', Dhorendra Singh said that Nagaland presently occupied only 16,500 square kilometres.
"From where he is going to find rest of the land? Obviously this is going to come from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and parts of Myanmar where the Nagas live," he said.
Hence the people of Manipur could not depend upon the assurance given by Muivah that he is not for 'Greater Nagaland', said Singh.
The leaders present at the press conference appealed to the people of Manipur to maintain communal harmony and keep their struggle democratic and peaceful.
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The complete coverage of the Naga truce issue
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