SUMMARY
The UNLF (United National Liberation Front) was a socialist separatist rebel group fighting an armed intrastate conflict over territory against the Government of India (see India: Manipur). 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 and 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, but also between different tribal groups. It was in this context that Areambam Samrendra Singh founded UNLF in Manipur on 24 November 1964, primarily aiming to establish an independent and socialist Manipur, but also to unite the various separatist movements representing other ethnic groups and populations active in northeast India.
Like many other armed groups in Manipur, the UNLF claimed to represent the Meitei ethnic group, which, unlike many other groups in northeast India, does not enjoy the status and protection of being recognized by the Indian Constitution as a “Scheduled Tribe”; this caused considerable discontent among the Meitei population. In general, many Meitei armed groups, including UNLF, utilized the popular grievances generated by the perceived “forced merger” of the Kingdom of Manipur and India in 1949.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the UNLF mainly engaged in non-violent activities geared towards recruitment and popular mobilization; the group did not launch its violent campaign until in the 1990s. Some sources indicate that the UNLF also attempted to engage in various social projects after the 1990s. During the 1990s, the various Meitei armed groups began campaigning against Bengali immigrants and the Pangals, which were the Muslim population native to Manipur.
Unknown assailants killed Samarendra Singh in Imphal, Manipur, on 10 June 2001; however, he does not appear to have been the leader of UNLF at the time. The UNLF’s leadership was decimated during the 1971 war in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), when many leaders were arrested; the UNLF had maintained bases in the neighboring country, and was allegedly active in this conflict by supporting the Pakistani army. On 19 May 1993, a person identified as the UNLF’s then-chairman, Namuizum Okendra, was detained. As of 2001, the group was under the leadership of chairman Rajkumar Meghen (“Sana Yaima”). Other important leadership figures from the early 2000s and onwards included “General Secretary” Th Sanachou, “Secretary of Defense” A. Wangpa, “Secretary of Organization” M. Nongyai, and “Secretary of Publicity” N. Thabal; they were members of the UNLF’s “central committee”.
In 1968, the UNLF created a pan-Manipuri Youth League to serve as the group’s public front. The UNLF created its armed wing, the Manipur People’s Army (MPA), in 1990, dividing it into three well-trained task-forces. By the early 2000s, the group also maintained a Women’s Wing led by Nganbi Devi. In 2001, it was estimated that the UNLF had a cadre strength of approximately 2500. The UNLF was considered a “disciplined” group that 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.
In the 1980s, the group was primarily active in Manipur’s “valley districts” of Imphal, Thoubal, and Bishenpur, before expanding its areas of operations to include the state’s hilly areas in the 1990s. In the 2000s, the UNLF’s activity was concentrated to Churchandpur district, some parts of Chandel district, and the Jiribam sub-division. It is worth noting that this was not only militant activities, but more generally where the group maintained nay form of presence. The main base of the UNLF was located in the in Sajik Tampak areas of Chandel district. The main sources of funding for the UNLF was believed to various forms of extortion, funding received from sympathizers, weapons smuggling, and illegal trade with precious gemstones and other valuable materials.
In 1968, a radical splinter faction broke away from the UNLF to form the Revolutionary Government of Manipur (RGM) under the leadership of Oinam Sudhir Kumar. In 1990, another breakaway faction (UNLF – Oken group) led by Namoijam Oken left the UNLF; the two factions engaged in violent clashes against each other. UNLF – Oken group later merged with splinter factions from the KCP and PREPAK to form the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL).
Manipur has seen a quite substantial number of armed 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, UNLF was for long periods able to collaborate loosely with the PLA and the PREPAK, and the groups worked out geographical allotments among themselves in the hinterland and operational areas. On 1 March 1999, the UNLF together with PLA 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 the RPF/PLA Secretary General Sanasam Gunen (“Phalguni”) served as “publicity-in-charge” of the MPLF.
On 22 May 1990, the UNLF together with the other northeast Indian rebel groups ULFA, NSCN-K), and the Kuki National Army (KNA) attempted to create the “Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front” (IBRF), a coalition that was intended to achieve independence for “Indo-Burma”. In 2001, a UNLF spokesperson claimed that the idea of a united IBRF was still alive and making progress. However, the UCDP has not recorded any organized violent activities involving this coalition as a unified actor.
It was believed that UNLF sold weapons and ammunition to other militant organizations, including ULFA, NDFB, and the ATTF. The UNLF also had ties to several other groups active in northeast India as well, for example Kuki National Front – President faction (KNF), KYKL – Toijamba faction, and the Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF); however, the nature of these links remained unspecified.
The UNLF have had a conflictual relationship to the Naga separatist group NSCN-IM since 1991, because of the latter’s ambition to include parts of Manipur in a “Greater Nagaland”. The UNLF has also accused NSCN-IM of disturbing the communal harmony in Manipur, and for actively stoking the clashes between the Naga tribe and the Kuki and Paite tribes respectively. However, the UNLF maintained strong ties to the NSCN-K; for example, UNLF fighters received training on territory controlled by the NSCN-K in Myanmar until the mid-1990s.
Especially in the early years of its existence, the UNLF maintained ties to authorities in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and China. In the 1990s and 2000s, the group has maintained camps in 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.
In 2015, the UNLF merged with several other armed groups from India’s northeast to form the UNLFW, fighting for the independence of what it referred to as "Western South East Asia". This territory incorporates the areas previously claimed separately by its constituent groups. With that, UNLF ceased to be a unique actor in UCDP data.
