Imphal, September 5: The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has strongly condemned and opposed the Government of India’s decision to extend the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with the “Chin-Kuki armed narco-terrorist groups”, as signed and announced on September 4, 2025 in New Delhi.
The COCOMI, in a statement, said today that the extension of the SoO agreement “despite the series of terrorist and criminal acts committed by these groups is a decision that runs completely against the interests of the indigenous people of Manipur”. The COCOMI reaffirmed its stand to firmly oppose this “anti-people move” of the Government of India.
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The popularly elected Government of Manipur had, through a cabinet decision on March 10, 2023, unanimously resolved to abrogate the SoO agreement, said the COCOMI. Under the current President’s Rule, the administration is being run by an authority appointed from New Delhi, “which lacks the legitimacy to represent the people of Manipur in letter and spirit”, it alleged. The decision to extend the SoO under such circumstances is illegitimate and reflects an undemocratic and hegemonic imposition upon the indigenous people and its elected representatives of Manipur, the COCOMI added.
By extending overwhelming legitimacy and recognition to “armed Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups under the deceptive pact” of the SoO, the Government of India has raised serious doubts about its role and responsibility in dealing with “narco-terrorism” in the region, the COCOMI statement also said. Since the introduction of the SoO in 2005 and 2008, such agreements have only shielded narco-terrorist armed groups while undermining the democratic will of the people, it further alleged. The international community too will question India’s credibility in combating narco-terrorism when it is seen as providing safe passage and impunity to such groups, the COCOMI further added.
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The COCOMI then said the Government of India has will-fully disregarded the unanimous resolution of the Manipur Legislative Assembly taken on February 29, 2024 urging the Government of India to revoke (abrogate) the SoO. “Instead, the President’s Rule administration in Manipur has been made a party to the tripartite talks without any mandate from the people. This act represents a complete compromise of the basic principles of democracy,” the COCOMI also said.
The COCOMI then said the Constitution of India guarantees free movement to every citizen across the country as a fundamental right. “However, by turning this into a bargaining chip with armed narco-terrorist groups, the Government of India has undermined its own constitutional obligations”, it also said, adding, “Such actions portray the Government as holding the Meetei population hostage at gunpoint under narco-terrorist influence. This is utterly unacceptable to the people of Manipur”.
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Looking into all these aspects, the COCOMI strongly rejected the Government of India’s extension of the SoO agreement. This decision will always be viewed as an act of legitimizing narco-terrorist operations, granting them impunity under a deceptive pact, while undermining the rights, security, and future of the indigenous people of Manipur and the Northeast region at large, the COCOMI statement concluded.
(Newmai News Network)