Guwahati, Dec 27: In a significant boost to peace in the Northeast, the Centre and Manipur government on Tuesday signed a ‘Cessation of Operation’ agreement with Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF), an insurgent outfit of Manipur that has been active for more than a decade.
The agreement was signed in New Delhi by senior officers of the Union ministry of home affairs, the Manipur government and the representatives of ZUF, in the presence of Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh, an official statement said.
“This will be a significant boost to the peace process in Manipur. Representatives of the armed group agreed to abjure violence and join the peaceful democratic process as established by law of the land,” the statement said.
The agreement provides for rehabilitation and resettlement of the armed cadres.
“A joint monitoring group will be constituted to oversee enforcement of the agreed ground rules,” it said.
Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh termed the development as yet another ‘milestone’ and a significant boost to the peace process in the state.
“Thankful to PM Shri Narendra Modi ji for fulfilling the vision of ‘Insurgency free and prosperous North East. Also, thankful to Union home minister Amit Shah ji for ensuring that the armed insurgents of the region return to the mainstream,” the chief minister expressed in a tweet.
Notably, the Centre has over the years signed several agreements to end insurgency and boost development in the Northeast in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the region “insurgency free and prosperous”.
Only last week, nine cadres of the Mizoram-based militant group Hmar People’s Convention-Democracy (HPC-D) laid down their arms and surrendered to police in southern Assam’s Cachar district.
Earlier this month, as many as 1179 cadres belonging to two Barak Valley-based militant outfits – United Democratic Liberation Front of Barak Valley (UDLF-BV) and Bru Revolutionary Army of Union (BRAU) – laid down arms in southern Assam’s Hailakandi district.