Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the United National Liberation Front, the oldest militant group of Manipur, signed a peace agreement with the Centre.
A historic milestone achieved!!! Modi govts relentless efforts to establish permanent peace in the Northeast have added a new chapter of fulfilment as the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) signed a peace agreement, today in New Delhi, the minister said in an X (formerly Twitter) post.
The UNLF was among the eight Valley-based insurgent groups, which were banned by the Centre under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A chapter of growth and development now opens as many extend their faith and trust toward the BJP Government, Chief Minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh said.
Manipur resident and retired senior army officer, Lt General L Nishikanta Singh, posted on X, "The Indian and Manipur government today signed a tripartite peace agreement with the UNLF of Manipur. This could be the beginning of the end of a six-decade-long Meitei armed movement. A landmark achievement by PM Narendra Modi ji - taking all along, good governance."
In the past few months, Manipur has seen ethnic clashes between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis over a range of issues, from land and resource crunch to taking a share of the affirmative action Scheduled Tribes (ST) policy.
The development is not directly related to the ethnic clashes, however, UNLF's signing of the historic agreement with the centre and the state is a positive development as its goal is to bring peace, strategic experts who have been tracking Manipur have said.
The United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing, the Manipur Peoples Army (MPA), were among several Meitei extremist organisations in Manipur banned by the Union home ministry earlier this month.
