SUMMARY
PLA (People’s Liberation Army; alternatively People’s Liberation Army of Manipur; sometimes referred to by the name of its political wing Revolutionary People’s Front, RPF) was a Maoist separatist rebel group that has fought an intrastate armed conflict over territory against the Government of India since the 1970s.
Northeast India, sometimes referred to as the “Seven Sisters” after the seven states that comprise the region, has since independence been a patchwork of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. These relatively small and sparsely populated (by Indian standards) states have experienced a turbulent history, stoked by ethnic tensions and insurgencies. One particularly prominent part of the social and political milieu in the region has been the demographic stress on political conflict brought by the immigration from the rest of India and Bangladesh. The “indigenous” population of India’s seven northeastern states has commonly been referred to as the “tribal populations”. Many of these tribes, but not all, has received special protected status in the Constitution of India; the protected tribes are referred to as the “Scheduled Tribes”. The immigrant population of Northeast India is commonly called the “non-tribal” population, and is comprised of, for example, Bengalis and other ethnic or religious groups found in India proper. Among the tribal populations, there has often been a perception of discrimination, particularly compared to the “immigrant” non-tribal communities. It was in this context that PLA emerged in the northeastern Manipur state. While the group mainly represented the Meitei ethnic group, it also claimed to represent other minority groups residing in Manipur, such as the Naga and Kuki; the PLA desired a “revolutionary front” that would include all of northeast India.
PLA was formed as a splinter group from the UNLF, founded by Nameirakpam Bisheswar Singh. Following his release from prison in 1975, Bisheswar Singh, who was inspired by the Maoist Naxalite movement also active in India, led a group of UNLF fighters into China’s Tibet region where they received training, allegedly from the Chinese military. The PLA was then formally set up on 25 September 1978, as Bisheswar Singh and his group returned to Manipur and initiated their violent struggle. The primary objective of the PLA was to achieve an independent Manipur, free from the “colonial” and “hegemonic” Indian rule. As mentioned above, the group drew considerable inspiration from the Naxalites, and from Maoist ideology. Much like other armed groups that claimed to represent the Meitei, PLA utilized the popular grievances generated by the perceived “forced merger” of the Kingdom of Manipur and India in 1949.
On 6 July 1981, the Indian army captured Bisheswar Singh and killed several other important PLA leaders. Thoudam Kunjabehari became the group’s new leader, but he was killed on 13 April 1982. While it has not been possible to establish who controlled the group for most of the 1980s, it is clear that the PLA underwent a considerable restructuring in the late 1980s. In 1989, a political wing, the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) was established under the leadership of “President” Irengbam Bhorot (“Chaoren”). Other important leaders after 1989 included “Vice-president” Ngouba (“Pravin Sharma”) and “Secretary General” Sanasam Gunen (“Phalguni”). Furthermore, a “Lieutenant Colonel” G Jame may have been the military leader of the group.
Following the restructuring in 1989, the PLA, which had been transformed into the group’s military wing, was organized into four separate divisions with individual chains of command. The political wing, RPF, was controlled by a “Central bureau” where all vital decisions concerning the group were taken. The group also created a “government in exile” in Myanmar and maintained a women’s wing led by Lily Leima. Various estimates of the PLA’s cadre strength during the 2000s ranged from 1500 to 3000. Recruitment was not only done in Manipur, but also from the Meitei population in Assam’s Cachar district. The PLA was considered as one of the most capable rebel groups in Manipur, as it was well organized and had access to sophisticated weapons. It enjoyed considerable support from Manipur’s civilian population; while it has never been officially confirmed, the group probably also had cordial relationships to various civil society organizations.
The PLA operated mainly in Manipur’s Imphal, Thoubal, and Bishenpur districts during the early 1990s, but began to establish itself also in Chandel and Churachandpur districts during the 2000s; the group was also known to operate in border region between Manipur and Assam. It is worth noting that this not only included violent activities, but also other forms of activities. The group’s main sources of income were extortion and “taxation” of primarily politicians, local bureaucrats, and businessmen; it has been suggested that the PLA also engaged in abductions to obtain ransoms.
Manipur has seen a quite substantial number of extremist groups. The insurgency was strengthened by the ability of several of these groups to establish joint armed fronts, or at least not waste resources by battling each other for supremacy, as has often been the case with insurgency movements elsewhere in northeastern India. For example, the PLA was for long periods able to collaborate loosely with the UNLF and the PREPAK, and the groups worked out geographical allotments among themselves in the hinterland and operational areas. On 1 March 1999, the PLA together with UNLF and PREPAK created the Manipur People's Liberation Front (MPLF), an umbrella organization intended to unify the fragmented separatist movement in Manipur, and to increase the momentum of the liberation process. UNLF’s leader Sana Yaima was the “convener” of this umbrella organization, while RPF/PLA’s Secretary General Sanasam Gunen (“Phalguni”) served as “publicity-in-charge” of the MPLF.
The Burmese rebel group KIO provided the PLA with weapons and training during the early 1980; this support was discontinued in 1990. During the 1980s, PLA fighters were also trained in guerrilla warfare by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in Challam, north Myanmar.
The PLA has had close ties to the NSCN-IM, and the two groups created the United Liberation Front of Seven Sister (ULFSS) in 1993; the “Seven Sisters” was a term referring to northeastern India. The group also developed ties to the KCP, ATTF, (KNF, Zomi Defence Volunteers (ZDV), Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF), NSCN’s Khaplang faction, and the ULFA; the nature of these links was not specified.
The PLA likely maintained training camps in both Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Government of India has accused Pakistan of providing secondary support to the rebel groups in Manipur through ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) officials stationed in Bangladesh; the Government of Pakistan has refuted these allegations. However, allegations of ISI-involvement with Indian militant groups should always be considered carefully, given the contentious relationship between India and Pakistan.
