Manipur ultras sought Maoist, separatists links

Despite being approached by several ‘foreign’ elements, a key northeastern insurgent outfit had expressed strong reservations about accepting any such help, and instead focused on forging close links with the Kashmir separatists and the Maoist movement.

A June 18, 2010 letter written by United National Liberation Front (UNLF) chairman Rajkumar Sanayaima aka Meghen to the head of another Manipur outfit — Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), said: “As part of a revolutionary struggle for Kashmir and us, it is necessary to help in strengthening the Indian Maoist structure. This concept seems to be very new to them. I sat with them many times.”

UNLF is one of the oldest insurgent outfits in the northeast with about 2,500 armed cadres, operating out of camps located in Myanmar.

In the letter, Meghen talks about a series of meetings in 2009 where Kashmiri separatists and Maoists had assured cooperation and support.

The leader also wrote about the need to take help from similar minded organisations but not from “foreign” powers because of two reasons: these powers only served their own needs and unity was not possible among the leaders of the northeastern insurgent groups.

“One important weakness faced by us is the inability of the groups mainly the leaders to unite,” he wrote.

By foreign powers, the UNLF chairman indicated state or non-state elements in Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and Myanmar.

In the letter, the leader speaks of an elderly man from Pakistan who had approached UNLF, whom Meghen expressedly asks his cadres not to trust.

A person by the name of Gong Jian, had also approached the outfit seeking detailed response to a questionnaire on the insurgent outfit’s aims, commitment, capacity, network and requirements, and who promises support and help if the answers are satisfactory.

Meghen, looked up to as a prime strategist by the insurgent groups in the northeast, is now in custody.