UKHRUL: The Naga People’s Front (NPF), Manipur Unit, has strongly rejected the Congress party’s claim that the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement and the creation of new districts are unrelated to the current crisis. The Congress’s position was reportedly carried in several news outlets today.
Addressing the media, NPF Manipur Unit president Awangbow Newmai said the party had so far remained silent on the Congress’s actions, past and present. He accused the Congress of having “opened Pandora’s box” and questioned the rationale behind signing the SoO agreement and carving out new districts.
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Newmai asked when security forces had ever carried out operations against what he termed “Kuki terrorists,” and how many such militants were killed. He contrasted this, he said, with around 1,600 people allegedly killed in fake encounters during counter-insurgency operations in the valley. He further sought to know which specific operations were conducted against Kuki groups and which were suspended.
Demanding an explanation from the Congress, he alleged that SoO camps have turned into safe havens for criminals. “Can the Congress justify that the SoO camps are meant to control extortion or the killing of people?” he asked.
Turning to district creation, Newmai questioned why Jiribam was placed under Imphal East, which is about 230 km away. He noted that Kangpokpi and Senapati headquarters are only half an hour apart but share boundaries with Bishnupur, Chandel, Kamjong, Ukhrul, Tamenglong and Noney. He asked whether such reorganisation was genuinely intended for administrative convenience and drew attention to grievances in Jiribam, Pherzawl, Churachandpur and other districts.
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He said the Congress must clarify whether the decision was driven by administrative needs or electoral considerations and urged the party not to mislead the public but to be truthful. According to him, had the Congress not signed the SoO agreement and created the new districts, the current situation would not have arisen.
Newmai further alleged that, after the SoO agreement was signed, cadres of the Myanmar-based Kuki National Army–Burma (KNA-B) began taking shelter in SoO camps, presenting themselves as SoO cadres. He claimed that the Congress had caused substantial damage but added that the NPF was trying its best to address the fallout.
He referred to earlier ethnic clashes — including Kuki–Naga, Meitei–Pangal and Kuki–Paitei conflicts — which, he said, claimed about 2,100 lives, and questioned what role the Congress had played at the time.
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Reiterating that the NPF works and speaks for all communities, he demanded justice for the Leilon Vaiphei incident, in which six Naga civilians were killed, as well as for the killing of three pastors in the Kotzim area and two persons at Tusom. Condemning the killing of the six Naga civilians at Leilon Vaiphei as “inhuman,” he said no human being should carry out such acts.
