Setting the tone for discussion the former Vice Chancellor of the North Eastern Hill University, Professor Mrinal Mirim, talked about co-existence of different identities among one single identity - 'Indian'. He stated that the demand for land and separate political space of each ethnic group couldn't be considered. He also emphasized on the need to keep the military off from the region.

Talking to the ANI, Pradip Phanjoubam, Editor of the Imphal Free Press, stressed the need to strengthen democracy in Manipur to neutralize the influence of the underground groups in the State.

He underlined the need for the State machinery to be well oiled and strong to create confidence among the people so that they cannot be swayed away by the militant ideology and threats.

Nani Gopal Mahanta, an Associate Professor of the Guwahati University, another participant in the seminar, elaborated the failure of the ULFA as an ideological force and the failure of its method of violence.

He said the divisive ethnic issues raised by the ULFA could not find favour with the people of the State. He said that the ULFA should join the mainstream of the society otherwise within few years time it will be completely marginalized in the state.

Nani Gopal has conducted an independent research on the ULFA few years ago. His study revealed that more than seventy percent people in the State were completely against the issue of sovereignty propounded by the insurgent group.

The Guwahati University professor also believes that the ULFA is almost a tool in the hands of the foreign agents, like the ISI and Bangladeshi fundamentalists, because of its association with Bangladesh, where it is taking shelter.

In his elaborate submission in the seminar, the Secretary of the Ashtha Bharati, Dr. B B Kumar, dwelt on the history of the ethnic conflict in India's northeast. He termed it a wrong precedent to create different autonomous councils or districts in the region in the name of satisfying ethnic demands. He said that some ethnic group used the culture of gun to enjoy the pelf of power. (ANI)