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Pillai to help resolve Manipur blockade

By The Assam Tribune - 15 Sep 2010 12:00 AM GMT

IMPHAL/KOHIMA, May 12 (IANS): Union Home Secretary GK Pillai today held marathon talks with Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to resolve the road blockade of Manipur as Naga separatist leader Thuingaleng Muivah remained adamant on visiting his birthplace in Manipur.

Pillai arrived in the Nagaland capital Kohima after an overnight stay in Imphal and was closeted with Rio to broker a peace deal aimed at allowing stranded trucks carrying essentials to enter Manipur. The Home Secretary is also expected to meet Muivah, general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) separatist group, to find a middle path and break the nearly 10-day impasse.

"A meeting is being fixed between Muivah and Pillai. But the stand of our leader is very clear. He would like to visit his birthplace in Manipur's Ukhrul district," a senior NSCN leader said.

Manipur continues to reel under an acute food crisis following an indefinite economic blockade enforced by Naga tribal groups against the Manipur government's decision not to allow Muivah to visit his birthplace.

Hundreds of trucks carrying essentials and medicines were stranded in adjoining Nagaland with protestors laying siege on National Highway 39 - the main lifeline to Manipur.

Several hospitals have stopped routine surgeries due to dearth of oxygen cylinders.

Landlocked Manipur depends on supplies from outside the region, with trucks from the rest of India carrying essentials passing through Nagaland. "There were attempts by Pillai to seek the help of both the Nagaland Chief Minister and Muivah to break the deadlock in Manipur," a Nagaland government spokesperson said.

The NSCN-IM leader would, however, seek an assurance from Pillai about his proposed visit to Ukhrul. "We have undertaken this journey of peace... respecting the wishes of the Naga people, but it is unfortunate that the Manipur government has opposed the visit of Muivah... We condemn... the irrationality of the (Manipur) government," a NSCN-IM statement said.