Tribunal set up for adjudication of ban extended on Meitei extremist groups

The Centre on Tuesday formed a tribunal consisting of a Gauhati High Court judge for adjudication of the extension of another five-year ban on nine Meitei extremist groups and their associate organisations, which mostly operate in Manipur.

The Union Home Ministry announcement came a fortnight after it extended the ban on the Meitei extremist groups and their association organisations for their anti-national activities, and launching fatal attacks on security forces.

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the central government constituted "The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal" consisting of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi, Judge of the Gauhati High Court, for adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Meitei extremist organisations of Manipur, along with their factions, wings and front organisations as unlawful associations, the home ministry said in a notification.

The extremist groups and their associate organisations include the Peoples' Liberation Army generally known as PLA, and its political wing, the Revolutionary Peoples' Front (RPF), the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing, the Manipur Peoples' Army (MPA), the Peoples' Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak PREPAK) and its armed wing, the "Red Army", the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and its armed wing, also called the "Red Army", the Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL), the Coordination Committee (CorCom) and the Alliance for Socialist Unity Kangleipak (ASUK).

While extending the ban for five years, the home ministry had said the Meitei extremist organisations have declared, as their professed aim, the establishment of an independent nation by the secession of Manipur from India through armed struggle and to incite indigenous people of Manipur for such secession.

The home ministry said it is of the opinion that the Meitei extremist organisations have been engaging in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, employing and engaging in armed means to achieve their aforesaid objectives, attacking and killing the security forces, the police and civilians in Manipur, indulging in acts of intimidation, extortion and looting of the civilian population for collection of funds for their organisations.