13 militants surrender before Manipur CM

13 cadres of two militant groups, including a self-styled home secretary of KCP(PWG), surrendered before Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh in Imphal on Thursday.
The militants deposited two lathode guns, three 9mm pistols, three IEDs, two detonators, two radio sets, five letter heads and four extortion slips to the chief minister at a homecoming ceremony held at the banquet hall of 1st Battalion Manipur Rifles, Imphal.
Twelve of the surrendered militants belonged to Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) – People’s War Group (PWG) while one belonged to Kanglei Yoel Kanna Lup (KYKL).
Among the 12 cadres of KCK(PWG) , Md Ziyaol Haque alias Zuber claimed to be the home secretary of the faction.
The chief minister who spoke on the occasion said that the state government aimed to end insurgency in the state in the next five years and has already begun its initiative to convince various insurgent groups, through political dialogues and schemes for surrender-cum rehabilitation, and bring them back home.
He welcomed the cadres who came out to join the mainstream and said that it was the right time for all to go ahead together for growth and development of the state.
He said Manipur had been facing unrest due to insurgency problems since the 1960s and claimed that insurgency related incidents has considerably declined in the last five years under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Singh said that people had started showing a sense of nationalism as the have faith in the style of governance of the prime minister.
“Mass participation in this year’s Independence Day Celebration and Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign has proved people’s love for the country,” he said.
He asked the Central government agencies operating in the state to observe the changing scenario in the state while stressing on the need of thinking positively and changing the way of dealing with insurgent groups to bring them into the mainstream. He also stressed the importance of joint efforts among the state and Central armed forces to deal with the issue through exchange of plans and strategies. The chief minister, on the other hand, cautioned that some vested interest groups were trying to create a bad image of the state by playing ethnic based politics.
He appealed to the public to work together for the development of the country.
The chief minister reiterated the assurance made by Union home minister Amit Shah that not a single bullet would be fired on those militants who want to return to normal lives and join the national mainstream and no FIR would be lodged against them unless they are involved in a heinous crime.
He further appealed to all the other insurgent groups to return to the mainstream, taking advantage of such a right time.
The homecoming ceremony organized by the state home department was also attended by most of the cabinet ministers of the state, state DGP and other high ranking officials of civil, police and paramilitary forces among others.