The Centre on Thursday revived and extended for a year the tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) Agreement with Kuki-Zo rebel groups “on re-negotiated terms and conditions”.

The SoO agreement had lapsed last year.

The Centre also secured a commitment from the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) for free movement of commuters and essential goods on National Highway 2 in strife-hit Manipur. The KZC is an umbrella body of civil society organisations representing the Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur.

The twin developments, announced through a PIB statement, come against the backdrop of a “VVIP visit” to Manipur this weekend. Although there is no official announcement, the intense preparations have triggered speculation that the
VVIP is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The PIB statement said: “In a significant decision, the Kuki-Zo Council has decided today to open the National Highway-02 for the free movement of commuters and essential goods…. after a series of meetings between officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and a delegation of the KZC in the last few days at New Delhi. The KZC has given commitment to cooperate with the Security Forces deployed by the GoI to maintain peace along NH2.”

It added: “Side by side, a tripartite meeting among representatives of MHA, Govt. of Manipur, and Kuki National Organisation/ KNO and United People’s Front/ UPF was also held at New Delhi today.

“The meeting concluded with the signing of a tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) Agreement on re-negotiated terms and conditions (ground rules) to be effective from the day of signing of the Agreement for a period of one year.”

Among other provisions, the revised ground rules reiterated “the territorial integrity of Manipur” and the “need for a negotiated solution to bring lasting peace and stability to the State of Manipur”.

The first provision suggests there may be a softening of stand on Kuki-Zo groups’ demand for a separate administration in the form of a Union Territory.

The KZC made it clear there was no change in the demand. Welcoming the decision of the MHA to extend the SoO, the KZC said in a statement: “We remain hopeful that the Government of India will follow this up by resuming the political dialogue for a Separate Administration under the Constitution of India, which alone can bring lasting peace and prosperity to theKuki-Zo people.”

According to the PIB statement, the KNO and the UPF have also agreed to relocate seven designated camps away from areas vulnerable to conflict, reduce the number of designated camps, “relocate” the weapons with the rebel groups to the nearest CRPF and BSF camps, and stringent physical verification of cadres by the security forces to de-list foreign nationals, if any.

A joint monitoring group “will henceforth closelymonitor enforcement of ground rules, and violations will be dealt with firmly in future, including review of the SoO Agreement”, thestatement said.

Within hours of the PIB statement, the KZC clarified that the Imphal-Dimapur NH2 had “never been closed or blocked”.

“NH2 has consistently remained open for commuters and for the transportation of essential goods. Therefore, the question of ‘reopening’ does not arise, contrary to certain media reports,” the KZC statement said.

A Kuki-Zo activist said barring the Meitei people, others continued to commute on the national highway everyday and so did goods-carrying vehicles.

Several attempts had been made in the past to ensure free movement on all roads between Kuki-Zo and Meitei areas since the conflict began, but to no avail.

The push for free movement ended in violent protest in Kuki-Zo- majority Kangpokpi district in which a person was killed. Since the conflict began, Kuki-Zo areas have been out of bounds for Meiteis and vice-versa for security reasons.

In its statement on Thursday, the KZC said: “Our appeal was specifically confined to the stretch of NH2 passing through Kangpokpi district. It must not be misinterpreted as an endorsement of unrestricted or free movement across the buffer zones. The sanctity of the buffer zones between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo areas will continue to be strictly respected and maintained.”

It added: “It is the responsibility of the Government of India to deploy and manage central forces to secure commuters and the transport of goods. It is neither the duty of the local public in Kangpokpi nor of the KZC to guarantee foolproof security for national highway users. The MHA has assured that adequate central forces will be deployed to provide necessary securityalong NH2.”