SENAPATI (India): A powerful rebel group in India’s troubled northeast is using its muscle to influence state elections this month, in an attempt to boost its campaign for a separate homeland for the Naga tribes.

The United Naga Council (UNC), widely seen as a mouthpiece for the rebels, has ordered Nagas not to affiliate themselves with any political parties in elections in the remote state of Manipur, accusing the parties of ignoring the “Naga cause”.The result is a slew of independent and often pro-rebel candidates in Naga-dominated parts of the state, in what is seen as a victory for the rebels and a fresh threat to the stability of the region.

“The fact that very few candidates sought party nominations shows that there was voluntary acceptance of the UNC wish,” said Prem Singh, the top election official in Senapati district, the hub of Naga politics in the hills of Manipur.

“Or perhaps, it was due to fear or coercion.”

Ahead of the three-stage vote which begins on Thursday, the council also ran advertisements in local newspapers indicating who Nagas should vote for.

A few Nagas who dared seek mainstream party nominations were prevented from campaigning and their workers threatened with violence, authorities and candidates said.

The UNC’s aim: to generate fresh momentum in support of a decades-old demand for a new state comprising all Naga-dominated areas in the northeast, a so-called “Greater Nagaland” to include the present Nagaland and large swathes of other states.

A third of the three-million-strong tribe live in neighbouring Manipur, mostly in its hills, and two other north-eastern states.

But Manipuris in the plains strongly oppose losing territory to a “Greater Nagaland” and the conflict provoked bloody riots in the state in 2002. Land disputes also led to clashes between Nagas and the Kuki tribe in the 1990s.

“The UNC has taken charge of the vote in the hills,” said Pradip Phanjoubam, editor of Manipur’s Imphal Free Press daily.

“They are not a political party and they are setting up proxies to do their bidding in the assembly, and that can create havoc.”

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) NSCN (I-M) rebel group refused to speak on record.

But a top leader said they were hoping their candidates – standing as independents – would win 11 seats in the 60-member Manipur assembly and “play a major role”.

The Naga rebellion is India’s oldest insurgency, a 60-year revolt in which tens of thousands were killed in Nagaland before a truce was declared in 1997. Negotiations with New Delhi have made little progress since then.

In the plains of Manipur, protecting the state's “territorial integrity” has become a catch-phrase in this month’s election campaign.

Analysts say that any new attempt by Naga legislators to raise their demands in the state assembly would inflame passions.

Peace in Manipur – a revolt-torn state of 2.6 million people far removed from India’s mainstream – is considered crucial to boost development and unlock the potential of the country’s northeast, New Delhi’s gateway to Asean.

Attempts to reach UNC leaders proved futile as the group's main office in Senapati had been shut down and its chief, Paul Leo, was incommunicado.

Workers of mainstream political parties in Manipur’s hills said there was widespread fear in a region where every third Naga is suspected of owning an AK-47 rifle.

“The situation is very tense,” says Dominic, a member of India’s ruling Congress party in Senapati who refused to give his second name due to fear of the UNC.

“There are very clear instructions from them on whom to vote and very clear threats of what will happen if disobeyed,” he said before disappearing into a narrow alley in the dusty hill town.

Thousands of troops have been deployed to ensure a fair vote. But that has failed to discourage the rebels.

“We are going to push our agenda more strongly than ever,” the top NSCN (I-M) leader said.

“Our silence itself is a message to the electorate.”—Reuters