The People's Liberation Army of Manipur (PLA-MP or PLAM), often shortened to the People's Liberation Army, is a

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

group fighting for the creation of an independent and socialist

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

, a state in northeastern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.The People's Liberation Army Of Manipur (PLA) has been engaged in an

armed conflict War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

against the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

History

The group founded by N. Bisheshwar Singh on 25 September 1978. Since its founding, it has been waging

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

as part of the Insurgency in Manipur against the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

, and has targeted the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

, Indian Paramilitary Forces and the State Police Force. However, during the late nineties, it declared a unilateral decision not to target the Manipur Police. The death of some top leaders in combat (like President Thoudam Kunjabehari in 1982), and the arrest of others (like N. Bisheshwar, arrested in 1981) decreased its military activity in the eighties. In 1989, a political wing called the Revolutionary People's Front (RPF) was formed. The RPF formed a government in exile in Bangladesh, led by Irengbam Chaoren, and began a restructuring of the organisation. The Organisation become very active. Its operation was divided into four sections: Sadar Valley West Hill areas of Manipur, Sadar Hill areas in the east Valley, Hill areas of Manipur and Imphal valley, each with a commander, and other ranks.

Organisation

The PLA has an estimated strength of some 3, 800 as of 2008. PLA-MP is also a member of the Manipur Peoples Liberation Front, an umbrella organization of several Manipur secessionsts groups; namely, the UNLF and PREPAK. On 29 July 2020, three Indian soldiers in the Assam Rifles were killed and six injured in an ambush in Manipur's Chandel district near the Indo-Myanmar border. In 2019, a confession by a PLAM member suggested that PLAM was in touch with Chinese People's Liberation Army. Sixteen platoons of PLAM returned to Manipur after receiving their training in China. Through the

2023 Manipur violence 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

, the separatist PLAM as well as

Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (or Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup, trans.: "the Organisation to save the revolutionary movement in Manipur") is a Meitei insurgent group that operates in the state of Manipur in India. It was formed in January 1994 by a facti ...

(KYKL) witnessed a surge in recruitment of new and previously surrendered soldiers. On 25 February 2023, after the original chairman Irengbam Chaoren died of illness, Vice Chairman Manoharmayum Ngouba took over Irengbam's position as chairman.

References

External links

Description of the Organisation at Start Center: National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism
{{DEFAULTSORT:People's Liberation Army Of Manipur 1978 establishments in Manipur Ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar Far-left politics in India Guerrilla organizations Insurgency in Northeast India Military units and formations established in 1978 National liberation movements Naxalite groups Organisations based in Manipur Organisations designated as terrorist by India Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Political parties established in 1978 Political parties in Manipur Secessionist organizations in Asia Separatism in India

History

Organisation

See also

References

External links