Imphal, June 24: The demand for a separate state for Zeliangrong community by the militant Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) has evoked strong opposition from the NSCN (Isak-Muivah), saying it is an attempt to jeopardise the Naga peace talks.

An NSCN (I-M) release stated: "In a moment of hope and promise of final settlement to such a long-going conflict between the government of India and the Naga people, some people who are carried away by their selfish imagination have been trying to jeopardise the peace process."

The NSCN (I-M) is holding talks with the Centre and one of its main demands is integration of Naga-inhabited areas under one administrative unit, including Manipur's Naga-inhabited districts of Ukhrul, Chandel, Tamenglong and Senapati and the Naga-inhabited areas of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The ZUF demand is likely to upset the plan.

The NSCN (I-M)'s reaction came after the outfit called a 72-hour strike in Zeliangrong-inhabited areas, beginning midnight tonight, to press for its demand.

The ZUF was formed four years ago and its cadres operate primarily in the Khupum area of Tamenglong district, intelligence sources said.

In addition to the NSCN (I-M)'s demand for Naga integration, the Kuki community and now the Zeliangrong community are demanding a separate state in Manipur.

The United Naga Council (UNC) is also demanding an alternative administrative arrangement outside the purview of the Manipur government for the Nagas living in Manipur until a settlement is reached with the NSCN (I-M).

In Manipur, the Zeliangrong community is concentrated in the hill district of Tamenglong. The community also resides in neighbouring Assam and Nagaland. It is not clear whether the Zeliangrong-inhabited areas in Nagaland and Assam are also included in the ZUF's proposed state.

The ZUF, while announcing its decision to call the strike, had said it took the decision after memoranda submitted to the Prime Minister and other Union ministers failed to evoke any positive action.

During the strike, the ZUF will close national highways, inter-district roads and national projects. The Imphal-Jiribam highway (National Highway 53) passes through Tamenglong district.

The UNC has urged ZUF to review its decision of imposing the 72-hour strike. "It is our conviction that the part shall remain protected within the whole if the position of the whole is secure in generations to come. So, the UNC appeals to all concerned to nurture collective spirit in the larger interest of all Nagas based on the uniqueness of Naga history and its situation," UNC information secretary S. Milan stated.

Accusing the ZUF of collaborating with security forces and the state's law enforcing agencies, the NSCN (I-M) said: "Such a whimsical thought of reorganising Zeliangrong state is not the issue of Naga people, neither is the decision of people living in the Naga ancestral home known as Zeliangrong."