The ministry of home affairs has banned several Meitei extremist groups
Subhashis Mittra
Reports regarding the extension of the ban on nearly a dozen Meitei extremist groups have not come as a bolt from the blue. The ban imposed by the government has been extended by five years, a practice that has become quite regular by now.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has informed Parliament that it has so far banned 54 terrorists and 44 terrorist organisations under the fourth schedule and the first schedule of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for a period of five years.
First comes the ban and then its extension, but the desired result is not achieved as these outfits often change their nomenclature in order to carry out their clandestine activities as proxy groups, targeting the security establishment. A fallout is that the list of banned organisations keeps growing longer as these bans, once imposed, are hardly ever lifted.
Certain banned organisations have moved the UAPA tribunal or even higher courts for solace, but the hearings go on endlessly without any final outcome.
The MHA recently extended a ban by five years on nine Meitei extremist groups and associate organisations which mostly operate in Manipur, for their anti-national activities and launching fatal attacks on security forces.
According to a notification issued by the MHA, the Meitei extremist organisations have declared, as their professed aim, the establishment of an independent nation by the secession of Manipur from India through armed struggle and to incite indigenous people of Manipur for such secession.
The groups that have been banned by the ministry for five years are the People’s Liberation Army—generally known as PLA and its political wing Revolutionary Peoples’ Front (RPF), the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing Manipur Peoples’ Army (MPA). The Peoples’ Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), the Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL), the Coordination Committee (CorCom) and the Alliance for Socialist Unity Kangleipak (ASUK) have also been banned.
All these Meitei extremist groups were last banned by the MHA in November 2018 under the UAPA of 1967. But it did not act as a deterrent as the trigger-happy ultras have been carrying out arson and violence every now and then.
The MHA said it was of the opinion that the Meitei extremist organisations have been engaging in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, employing and engaging in armed means to achieve their secessionist objective, attacking and killing the security forces, police and civilians in Manipur, indulging in acts of intimidation, extortion and looting of the civilian population for collection of funds for their organisations.
They are making contact with sources abroad to influence public opinion and to secure their assistance by way of arms and training to achieve their secessionist objective and maintaining camps in neighbouring countries for sanctuaries, training and clandestine procurement of arms and ammunition.
The MHA said if there is no immediate curb and control of the Meitei extremist organisations, they will take the opportunity to mobilise their cadres and escalate their secessionist, subversive, terrorist and violent activities. The groups will propagate anti-national activities in collusion with forces inimical to the sovereignty and integrity of India, indulge in killings of civilians and targeting of the police and security force personnel, procure and induct illegal arms and ammunition from across the international border, and extort and collect huge funds from the public for their unlawful activities, the ministry said. ‘The central government, having regard to the circumstances, is further of the opinion that it is necessary to declare the Meitei extremist organisations… as “unlawful associations”… for five years,’ says the MHA.
Manipur has seen bouts of violence since ethnic clashes first erupted in May this year. More than 180 people have been killed since then. The clashes have occurred over a number of grievances that ethnic Meitei and Kuki communities have against each other. A major flashpoint has been a move to give the Meiteis Scheduled Tribe status, which has since been rolled back. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, including Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
According to minister of state for home Nityanand Rai, this year four organisations have been notified as terrorist organizations under the UAPA and their names have been added in the First Schedule of the Act. “These four organisations—The Resistance Front (TRF), Peoples Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force (JKGF) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) have been involved in terrorism and have committed and participated in various acts of terrorism in India,” he told the Rajya Sabha.
Sharing details of the four organisations, Rai said the TRF is a proxy outfit of terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba and came into existence in 2019. It has been involved in planning killings of security force personnel and innocent civilians of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), coordinating and transporting weapons to support proscribed terrorist organisations, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from across the border.
The PAFF is a proxy outfit of terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed and came into existence in 2019. It has been involved in the radicalisation of youth, issuing threats to Indian security forces, political leaders and civilians working in J&K from other parts of the country, conspiring pro-actively—physically and on social media to undertake violent terrorist acts in J&K and major cities in India.
The third organisation that was banned—JKGF—surfaced in 2020 and draws its cadres from proscribed terrorist organisations such as Lashker-e-Taiyyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami. It has been involved in infiltration bids, narcotics and weapon smuggling and carrying out terror attacks in J&K. The KTF came into existence in 2011 as an offshoot of Babbar Khalsa International, a proscribed terrorist organisation under the UAPA. It promotes acts of terrorism and its cadres have been receiving financial and logistics support from their foreign-based handlers and have been found to be involved in various terrorist cases, including targeted killings.
In January this year, the MHA issued a notification declaring Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger alias Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri an individual terrorist. Ahanger is a Kashmir-born terrorist who has contacts with al-Qaeda and other global terrorist groups and is engaged in restarting the Islamic State (IS) in India. Based in Afghanistan, he was described as one of the chief recruiters of Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK).
Meitei Groups Banned by the Centre
United National Liberation Front (UNLF): The organisation was banned for its secessionist agenda of establishing the Sovereign Republic of Manipur to include Kabaw Valley in Myanmar. With a trained cadre strength of more than 300, the terror group is largely involved in extorting money from big contractors, politicians and businessmen. The group exercises its political agenda through known political affiliates, intelligentsia and student organisations.
It has a strong network of overground workers and drug addicts, who are mainly used for placing grenades and delivering extortion notes. Violent actions such as the triggering of IEDs and ambushes are planned and executed exclusively by its trained cadres. Manipur People’s Army (MPA) is the military wing of UNLF.
People’s Liberation Army (PLA): The organisation was initially named Polei, which is the ancient name of Manipur. This name was basically given to arouse the sentiments of people. Nameirakpam Bisheswar Singh raised the PLA on 26 September 1978 to ‘liberate’ Manipur from India and create a Meitei land in Imphal Valley, including areas of the erstwhile Manipur Kingdom, now in Myanmar.
The group consists of two wings—military wing PLA and political wing Revolutionary Peoples Front (RPF), which has also been banned under the UAPA. With a cadre strength of more than 400 and a portion of weapons looted from Manipur Police reaching its cadres, the group is mainly involved in the placing of grenades, generally outsourced to drug addicts and non-cadres.
However, placing and detonation of IEDs and other major actions targeted at security forces are conducted by PLA cadres only. It raises funds through extortion of officials, contractors and businessmen. PLA is an exclusive Meitei group and does not recruit members of other tribes or communities.
Kanglei Yawol Kanba Lup (KYKL): The group funds itself through extortion carried out jointly with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-IM (NSCN-IM). It works towards gaining public sympathy and support and openly supports other terrorist groups. In the absence of an ideological base among its cadres, there are frequent splits and mergers which make it difficult to pinpoint its areas of influence. KYKL cadres primarily function as criminals instead of insurgents and collect money from the public individually.
People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK): Working to ‘liberate Manipur’, the insurgent group indulges in low-level extortion. It targets doctors, shopkeepers and contractors, and lobs grenades at business establishments and pharmacies to threaten them. Extortion at the ground level by its cadres targeting civilians, traders and government employees has resulted in increased public resentment. The group shares ‘strategic linkages’ with UNLF and PLA. It also carries out extortions on their behalf and takes commission. The group is also engaged in drug smuggling.
Coordination Committee (CorCom): It is an amalgam of six Imphal Valley-based terror outfits, including KCP, KYKL, PREPAK and RPF, and came into existence in July 2011.
Alliance for Socialist Unity, Kangleipak (ASUK): It is an amalgam of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and the banned Kanglei Yawol Kana Lup (KYKL).