United National Liberation Front

A Meitei insurgent group in Manipur, India

This article is about a separatist group in Manipur, India. For the Paraguayan resistance group, see United National Liberation Front (Paraguay).

Not to be confused with Unitary National Liberation Front, a World War II political organization from the former Yugoslavia.

United National Liberation Front of Manipur

Banner of the United National Liberation Front

Abbreviation| UNLF
Founded| 24 November 1964; 60 years ago (1964-11-24)
Founder| Arambam Somorendra[1][2]
Type| Far-left politico-military rebel group
Legal status| Banned by the Government of India
Purpose| To reestablish Manipur as a sovereign socialist state
Headquarters| Manipur
Membership| 2,000 armed cadres (2005) 10,000 Armed cadres 2023

Chairperson

| Arambam Somorendra †
(1964-2000)
RK Meghen
(2000-2010)
Lanjingba Khundongbam
(2010-2023)

Main organ

| Ningtam Meira (journal)

The United National Liberation Front (UNLF), also known as the United National Liberation Front of Manipur,[3] is a separatist Meitei insurgent group active in the state of Manipur in Northeast India which aims at establishing a sovereign and socialist Manipur.[4][5]

## Background

[edit]

The United National Liberation Front's movement manifested as a result of several similar movements of the same political agenda. The outfit was founded on 24 November 1964[3] with the following key personalities as its central committee members:[citation needed]

1. RK Meghen (Sana Yaima), Chairman
2. Kalalung Kamei, President
3. Thankhopao Singsit, Vice-President
4. Arambam Somorendra, General Secretary
5. Longjam Manimohan, Member
6. Laishram Kanhai, Member
7. Nongmeikapam Sanajaoba, Member
8. Nongmaithem Pahari, Member

## Ideology and Aim

[edit]

> UNLF have nothing to demand from the Government of India but instead it is fighting to regain the lost sovereignty [of Manipur].

UNLF[6]

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in September 2012, acknowledged that "the activities carried out by the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) are for bringing sovereignty in the state of Manipur." The UNLF has viewed the statement as "a big political victory."[6]

The UNLF chairperson, Rajkumar Meghan (Sana Yaima) has been charged for "waging war" against India by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), but the UNLF leader has voiced that the UNLF does not view India or its army as enemies, and "the UNLF only resist the Indian armed forces stationed in Manipur and to resist those people who engaged in colonial repression."[6]

Sana Yaima believes that Manipur is "under martial law," and has questioned the character and worthiness of the elections that had been held in Manipur. He further believes that "the most democratic means to resolve conflict is plebiscite."[6]

## Organization

[edit]

Manipur People's Army

Flag of the Manipur People's Army

Dates of operation| 24 November 1964 – present
(armed since 1990)
Headquarters| Manipur
Active regions| Northeast India
Ideology| Manipuri Nationalism[7]
Socialism[8]
Separatism
Size| 2,000
Allies|  Myanmar
Opponents|  India[9]
Battles and wars| Insurgency in Northeast India

Insurgency in Manipur

2023-2025 Manipur violence

The UNLF is one of the oldest insurgent organizations in Northeast India. E. N. Rammohan, the former Director-General of the Border Security Force, once wrote, "Of the five major (Imphal) valley underground groups, the UNLF's ideology is by and large intact. The senior leadership is well educated and has good organizational control."[3]

### Manipur People's Army

[edit]

Manipur People's Army (MPA) was formed on 9 February 1987 as an Army Wing of UNLF. In 1991, the UNLF picked up arms, and its first armed action against Indian security forces was carried out on 15 December 1991 at Lamdan on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). In 2005, the MPA's strength was estimated to be about 2,000 armed cadres.[3] According to the UNLF, by 2005, the UNLF was engaged in a battle against about 50,000 armed personnel from the Indian Army deployed against the organisation in the forest regions of Manipur.[10] The cadres of the group are drawn largely from the Meiteis and the Pangals.

### Factions

[edit]

In 2020, UNLF split into two factions, one led by R.K. Achou Singh alias "Koireng" and the other led by Khundongbam Pambei, called UNLF (Koireng) and UNLF (Pambei) respectively. The Koireng faction was said to have had 300 cadres and the Pambei faction 2000 caders.[11][12][13]

## Strategy and Tactics

[edit]

The UNLF is known to be heavily involved with Extortion, Arms Trading, and Income Generating Projects to finance their armed movements.[14] They have several organized training camps within the northeast sector of India and the neighboring countries of Myanmar and Bangladesh.[15][16] Ningtam Meira is the primary media outlet they use to make publications.

### Four–point proposal to Indian government

[edit]

The UNLF had put forward four condiciones sine quibus non before the government of India if it is willing to initiate dialogue and ink a peace accord with the organisation, which are:[10]

1. "A plebiscite under UN supervision to elicit the people's opinion on the core issue of restoration of Manipur's independence."
2. "Deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in Manipur to ensure free and fair process."
3. "Surrender of arms by the UNLF to the UN force, matched by the withdrawal of Indian troops."
4. "Handing over of political power by the UN in accordance with the results of the plebiscite."[17]

## Arrest of chairperson

[edit]

On 4 December 2010, Sanayaima was produced by the NIA, who claimed to have arrested Sanayaima from Motihari in Bihar; while, Sanayaima has proclaimed that he was abducted by the Bangladeshi agencies on 29 September 2010 and "handed over" to the agencies of India. Sanayaima has been booked by the NIA for "waging war against the Indian Union under section 120 (B) IPC, 121, 121 (A), 122 IPC and 16, 17, 18, 18 (A), 18 (B) & 20 Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 as amended in 2008."[18] After the arrest, he said that "in a multi-community region, the idea of peace cannot be achieved without considering the collateral damages of the secondary conflict that emerges out of the meaningless peace process."[19]

> The Indian government ploy in the so called peace process in 'Western South East Asia' (WESIA) [Indian northeast region] is aimed at transforming the conflict between the peoples of the region with the government of India into a conflict between the peoples on ethnic lines.

> — Sanayaima, in 2012[19]

Drawing inspiration from the "charged political atmosphere" during the "Naxalbari uprising", he had dropped out of the higher studies at the Jadavpur University in Kolkata, and "picked up a gun and vanished into the forest" about 4 decades ago; and had remained underground since then.[3]

## Controversies

[edit]

Civil rights activist Babloo Loitongbom, said that "there was an allegation that certain members of the UNLF had raped 20 women.[citation needed] We formed a multi-ethnic fact finding team to go to the place. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to go inside the camp, we were not given any medical evidence."[20][dead link]

## Peace talk

[edit]

On 29 November 2023, the Pambei faction of UNLF signed a ceasefire agreement with the Government of India. The agreement was claimed as being "historic" as the UNLF is the first Meitei insurgent organization to sign such an agreement.[21]

## See also

[edit]

* Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
* Insurgency in Northeast India
* Insurgency in Manipur
* 2023–2025 Manipur violence
* List of terrorist organisations in India

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Arambam, Lokendra (2000). "Arambam Somorendra (12 July 1935—10 June 2000)". Indian Literature. 44 (4 (198)): 102–105\. ISSN 0019-5804. JSTOR 23343284.
2. ^ Rammohan, E. N. (April 2021), "Manipur: A degenerated insurgency", USI Journal, archived from the original on 25 April 2021
3. ^ a b c d e Nitin A. Gokhale (1 October 2005). "A life roughed-out in the jungle". Hong Kong: Tehelka. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
4. ^ Prabhakara, M. S. (2007). "Separatist Movements in the North-East: Rhetoric and Reality". Economic and Political Weekly. 42 (9): 728–730\. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4419298. "Perhaps the oldest of this kind engaged in armed struggle in Manipur is the United National Liberation Front, though similar aspirations for the restoration or winning back through armed struggle of Manipur's lost sovereignty ("the undemocratic and inequitable Merger agreement of October 15, 1949").."
5. ^ Sharma, Akhilesh; Achom, Debanish (30 November 2023). "Explained: Historic Manipur Peace Deal With UNLF, Oldest Valley Armed Group". NDTV.
6. ^ a b c d "UNLF activities are for bringing sovereignty in Manipur". Imphal Free Press. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023.
7. ^ "United National Liberation Front". Hindustan Times. 12 August 2004.
8. ^ "The Official Home Page of the Indian Army". www.indianarmy.nic.in. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
9. ^ "NIA :: Banned Terrorist Organisations". Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
10. ^ a b Nitin A. Gokhale (1 October 2005). "Want peace? travel the roads not taken". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
11. ^ Sukrita Baruah, Deeptiman Tiwary, Manipur valley's UNLF insurgent faction bids farewell to arms, Amit Shah calls it historic, The Indian Express, 30 November 2023.
12. ^ Vijaita Singh, Centre and Manipur ink deal with banned Meitei insurgent body, The Hindu, 29 November 2023.
13. ^ Samir K. Purkayastha, Manipur ground report: Armed groups, Myanmar factor hinder return to peace, The Federal, 21 February 2025.
14. ^ Bhardwaj, Ananya (2024). "ED finds 'well-oiled' extortion system funding UNLF's 'Rs 54 cr budget'. Crores for arms & even HR wing". ThePrint.
15. ^ SATP. "United National Liberation Front (UNLF) Terrorist Group, Manipur". South Asia Terrorism Portal.
16. ^ "United National Liberation Front (UNLF)". Global Security. `{{cite web}}`: `|first=` missing `|last=` (help)
17. ^ UNLF (1995). "UNITED NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT: MANIPUR" (PDF).
18. ^ "Sanayaima to be produced in court". Imphal Free Press. 22 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023 – via Kangla Online.
19. ^ a b "India transforming conflict on ethnic lines". Imphal Free Press. 8 November 2012.
20. ^ ""If you go hunting, be ready to meet the tiger" — Human rights activist and scholar, BablooLoitongbam". Bar and Bench.
21. ^ Chauhan, Neeraj (29 November 2023). "Centre signs peace deal with UNLF, oldest insurgent group in the northeast". The Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* About UNLF in the Global Security Website
* Description of the UNLF in The South Asian Terrorist Portal the international India Jammu organizationsOrganizations

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Organisations designated as terrorist organisations by Government of India

Jammu and Kashmir|

* Al-Badr
* Dukhtaran-e-Millat
* Hizbul Mujahideen

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* All Tripura Tiger Force
* Kamtapur Liberation Organisation
* Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup
* Kangleipak Communist Party
* National Democratic Front of Bodoland
* National Liberation Front of Tripura
* People's Liberation Army of Manipur
* People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak

Punjab|

* Babbar Khalsa
* Khalistan Commando Force
* Khalistan Zindabad Force
* Sikhs for Justice

Others|

* Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj
* Communist Party of India (Maoist)
* Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War
* Deendar Anjuman
* Indian Mujahideen
* International Sikh Youth Federation
* Maoist Communist Centre of India
* Popular Front of India
* Students' Islamic Movement of India
* Tamil Nadu Liberation Army
* Tamil National Retrieval Troops
* United Liberation Front of Assam
* United National Liberation Front

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* Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
* Jaish-e-Mohammed
* Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
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* Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

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