NEW DELHI: A ban on eight rebel groups in Manipur has been extended by the government for five more years for their continued involvement in unlawful and violent activities, the Home Ministry said Tuesday.
The groups have openly declared their objectives of formation of an independent Manipur by secession from India, employing and engaging in armed means to achieve their goal besides attacking security forces, police and government employees, it said.
The organisations banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act are (i) Peoples' Liberation Army generally known as PLA and its political wing, (ii) Revolutionary Peoples' Front (RPF), (iii) United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing Manipur Peoples' Army (MPA), (iv) Peoples' Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and its armed wing, 'Red Army', (v) Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and its armed wing, also called 'Red Army', (vi) Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL), (vii) the Coordination Committee (CorCom) and (viii) Alliance for Socialist Unity Kangleipak (ASUK), a home ministry notification said.
The five-year ban on all these groups lapsed recently, thus necessitating declaring them outlawed for a fresh spell of five years with immediate effect, a home ministry official said.
The home ministry said the eight Meitei extremist organisations of Manipur were involved in 756 violent incidents in the past five years from January 1, 2013 to July 31, 2018 during which they killed 86 people, including 35 security forces personnel.
The groups have been indulging in acts of intimidation, extortion and looting of civilian population for collection of funds, making contacts with sources abroad for influencing public opinion and for securing their assistance by way of arms and training for the purpose of achieving their secessionist objective and maintaining camps in neighbouring countries for the purpose of sanctuaries, training and clandestine procurement of arms and ammunition, the notification said.
"And whereas, the central government is of the opinion that the activities of the Meitei extremist organisations are considered detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India and that they are unlawful associations.
"Therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the central government hereby declares the Meitei extremist organisations as unlawful associations," it said.
The home ministry said if the unlawful activities of these organisations are not curbed and controlled immediately, they will take the opportunity of mobilising their cadres for escalating their secessionist, subversive, terrorist and violent activities; propagating anti-national activities in collusion with forces inimical to sovereignty and integrity of India.
They were also indulging in killings of civilians and targeting of the police and security force personnel; procuring and inducting illegal arms and ammunition from across the international border; extorting and collecting huge funds from public for their unlawful activities, it said.