President of the proscribed Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), MM Ngouba, has reiterated the organisation’s demand for an independent Manipur, while alleging that the Government of India has adopted successive military, political and security strategies over decades to suppress the armed movement in the State.
In a message issued on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the armed wing of the RPF, Ngouba claimed that the movement for what the organisation calls the “liberation” of Manipur had survived repeated attempts by the government and security forces to suppress it.
The PLA was founded on September 25, 1978, and the RPF has consistently described it as its armed wing. Independent accounts also record September 25, 1978, as the founding date of the PLA under N. Bisheshwar Singh.
Beginning his message with tributes to those he described as having sacrificed their lives for the cause, Ngouba also extended greetings to the people, fellow revolutionary organisations and PLA cadres. He said the organisation had completed 48 years of armed struggle and claimed that successive attempts to defeat the movement had failed.
A major theme of the message was an alleged plan to eliminate the insurgency by 2029. Ngouba referred to what he described as statements from “mayang” elements setting 2029 as a deadline for eliminating the liberation movement. He claimed that there was no indication that the objective could be achieved, but cautioned supporters against underestimating what he termed new strategies and risks to the people.
The RPF president then outlined what he described as different phases of the government’s campaign against the independence movement. He alleged that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, became a central instrument of the counter-insurgency campaign after it was extended to Manipur.
According to Ngouba, security operations over the decades involved arbitrary arrests, torture, killings, destruction of property, land seizures and intimidation of civilians. He further alleged that military pressure was accompanied by financial incentives and government employment intended to create divisions among members and supporters of the movement.
He described the government’s approach during the initial phase as a combination of coercion and attempts at co-option, arguing that weaknesses within the resistance movement, including inadequate ideological preparation and limited resources, were exploited by the authorities.
The message alleged that the strategy subsequently evolved into a broader campaign involving increased military operations and attempts to turn members of different communities against one another. Ngouba accused security forces of using fake encounters, abductions, killings, ransom demands and staged surrender operations. These allegations were presented as part of the RPF’s account of the history of the conflict.
Ngouba also argued that the prolonged deployment of security forces under AFSPA demonstrated, in the RPF’s interpretation, that the conflict should not be treated merely as an internal law-and-order issue. He reiterated the organisation’s position that Manipur and India are separate political entities and described Manipur as being under military occupation.
The message subsequently turned to what Ngouba described as a wider regional strategy. He referred to “North East Vision 2022” and said it comprised political, security and development components. According to his account, the political component focused on negotiations and surrender-cum-rehabilitation schemes, while the security component involved deployment of central forces and counter-insurgency operations. The development component, he said, envisaged increased central funding for the Northeast.
Ngouba further alleged that after the stated objective of ending insurgency by 2022 was not achieved, a new strategy was introduced in 2023 under what he termed a “Zero Infiltration” operation. He claimed that the strategy was accompanied by the use of armed proxy groups and the exploitation of ethnic tensions.
He linked this alleged strategy to the violence that has affected Manipur since May 2023, claiming that the resulting conflict had displaced people from their homes and caused widespread suffering. Ngouba accused the authorities of deliberately exploiting differences between communities to weaken armed groups opposed to the government.
The RPF president also referred to the May 2025 Gwaltabi incident involving personnel of the 4th Mahar Regiment and a Manipur State Transport bus carrying journalists to cover the Shirui Lily Festival in Ukhrul. The incident reportedly involved security personnel directing the journalists to conceal the “Manipur” marking on the government bus and triggered widespread protests by media organisations and civil society groups.
In his message, however, Ngouba alleged that the Gwaltabi incident was deliberately engineered to provoke hostility between the Meitei and Naga communities and weaken revolutionary organisations operating in border areas. He further connected the incident with the continuing controversy over land and territorial issues along the Manipur-Nagaland border, describing such developments as part of psychological warfare.
Ngouba urged the people to remain vigilant and maintain unity across communities, warning that divisions could have serious consequences for the future of Manipur. He said the RPF viewed the alleged 2029 deadline as unlikely to succeed and asserted that the movement would continue despite the strategies employed against it.
The message also invoked a traditional saying, “Kwak Kwak Kari Kwakno, Mayang Kwakni,” which Ngouba interpreted as a warning to distinguish between the homeland and outsiders. He used the saying to call for preservation of unity and vigilance over land and identity.
Concluding the message, the RPF president argued that military force could not resolve the political issues underlying independence movements and called for an end to what he termed a “proxy war” in Manipur. He reiterated the organisation’s call for what it describes as the restoration of Manipur’s independence.
The message ended with greetings to the people of Manipur and revolutionary cadres and carried the RPF slogans, “Long Live RPF”, “Victory to PLA” and “Long Live the People of Manipur”.
The RPF and PLA remain proscribed organisations, and the PLA has been involved in an armed insurgency in Manipur since its formation in 1978.
