Meanwhile, the armed wing of the ULFA under the leadership of its “C-in-C” Paresh Barua is bent on showing that it is not a tired and spent force eager for a peace settlement but is very much alive. The outfit staged two daring attacks on the security forces in the span of just four days, killing, in the first incident, four jawans of the Seema Ruraksha Bal (July 26) and in the second, five CRPF personnel (July 30). The message is clear: whatever the top ULFA leaders in jail may say or do, we will carry on our fight. Senior Assam minister Bhumidhar Burman, who is officiating in the absence of ailing Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, issued an immediate warning: “It is not a good sign at this stage of the peace talks with ULFA.”

It is intriguing that while the ULFA publicity secretary owned responsibility of his organization for the land mine blast that blew off the CRPF bus at Bhalukdubi village near the Indo-Bhutan border, the State police suspect the hand of the anti-talk faction of the NDFB, whose leader Ranjan Daimary was arrested some time ago and is now lodged in Goalpara jail.

Meanwhile in Manipur, in a five-hour-long fierce gun battle between two Kuki militant groups - the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) and the Kuki National Front-Presidium (KNF-P) - ten militants were killed in the remote Seijang Hill area on the border of Imphal East and Senapati districts. The battle is believed to be the result of each group trying to impose its supremacy and control in the area. This was by no means the first incident of such clashes between rival Kuki groups.

Both KLF and KNF are parties to the “Suspension of Operations” (SOO) agreement, signed about a year ago between them and the State Government and the security forces. The agreement led to the suspension of operations against the militant outfits. Another outfit, the Kuki National Army (KNA) was also a signatory to the agreement. But the Chief Minister of Manipur, Okhram Ibobi Singh, has accused the KNA of violating the ground rules and threatened to take action against it.

In this confusing plethora of Kuki militant outfits - the KLA, the KNF-P and the KNA - who stands where and what exactly are the differences between them? The KNA wants a “Kukiland” which should be formed by integrating the Kuki areas of Manipur and Myanmar, while the KNF-P and KLA want a Kukiland to be carved out of the Kuki-inhabited areas only of Manipur. The KNA is the armed wing of the Kuki National Organization (KNO) which was formed in 1988.

Its aim is to bring together all Kuki inhabited areas including the Kabaw Valley of Myanmar. Kabaw Valley was originally part of the kingdom of Manipur but was ceded to Burma by the British rulers by a treaty in 1834. The Manipuris have never reconciled themselves to the cession and have continued to demand that it be re-integrated with Manipur. The KNA is hostile to the other Kuki and Zomi militant outfits. It may be recalled that the first batch of KNA cadres, led by Thangkholun Haokip, was trained in Myanmar by the Kachin Independent Army.

In December, 2005, three Kuki militant outfits - the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA), the United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) and the Kuki National Front-Samuel (KNF-S) — merged to form the Kuki National Council (KNC) to fight the KNA. Since then, internecine strifes between mutually hostile groups of the same tribe have continued to bedevil peace in the tribal areas of Manipur.

Then there is the ill-concealed antagonism between the Nagas and the Manipuris and the two rebel factions of the NSCN - Isak-Muivah (I-M) and Khaplang(K). The first shot into newspaper headlines in May last when a clash seemed imminent between the police forces of Nagaland and Manipur over the intended visit of Muivah to his home village in Manipur after forty years. Muivah was determined to cross into Manipur and the Manipur Government was equally determined not to allow him to enter the State. Ultimately, on the advice of New Delhi, Muivah had the good sense to return to Dimapur and a clash was avoided.

The second, the intense hostility between the I-M and K factions of NSCN, is also there though no armed clashes have taken place recently. During the “May crisis” over Muivah's visit, the rival Khaplang group issued a statement saying there was “no question of the Naga people going to fight the Manipur Government” and that the entire incident of Muivah was “stage-managed.”

So, the insurgency story in the North East is a story of wheels within wheels and a comprehensive peace in the region continues to be elusive. (IPA Service)