UKHRUL, Sep 10: The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has rejected calls by several Meitei and Naga civil society organisations for the abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement between the Government of India and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People’s Front (UPF).
The KIM on Thursday said the demand to terminate the agreement “misunderstands the nature and purpose” of the SoO arrangement and the political process it was established to facilitate.
The KIM described the SoO agreement as a peace initiative of the Government of India, saying it was entered into with Kuki armed organisations as part of efforts to suspend hostilities and create an environment conducive to political dialogue.
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The agreement was formalised as a tripartite arrangement in 2008 and has subsequently been extended by successive governments, the KIM said, arguing that this demonstrated the Centre’s continued recognition of the framework as an instrument for engaging with the Kuki political question.
“It is therefore deeply contradictory that organisations claiming to seek peace should demand the dismantling of the very mechanism through which the Government of India has maintained a structured political engagement with Kuki representatives,” the KIM said.
The organisation also rejected arguments that the SoO agreement should be abrogated because individuals associated with SoO groups had allegedly committed crimes.
The KIM said that even where there were genuine violations of SoO ground rules, such cases should be addressed through the appropriate institutional mechanism, including the Joint Monitoring Group, rather than by terminating the entire agreement.
The KIM further asserted that the political aspirations of the Kuki-Zo people could not be determined by another ethnic community.
While acknowledging the right of Meitei civil society organisations to express their views and make representations to the government, the KIM said such demands did not give them authority to determine the political future of the Kuki-Zo people.
“The Kuki political question is fundamentally a matter between the Government of India, government of Manipur and the SoO groups, to be addressed through dialogue and a constitutional political process,” the organisation said.
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The KIM said the Government of India had entered into the SoO arrangement as a sovereign government and had repeatedly renewed it while establishing mechanisms to monitor compliance. It also noted the Centre’s engagement with the KNO and UPF in political dialogue.
The apex Kuki civil body called for the existing process to be strengthened until a durable political settlement is reached, rather than allowing civil society organisations from another community to determine whether the process should continue.
It also urged the Centre to ensure strict enforcement of SoO ground rules, investigate every genuine violation, prosecute individuals where credible evidence exists, and strengthen the Joint Monitoring Group and other institutional mechanisms.
The KIM maintained that the SoO framework provides the basis for continued dialogue on the Kuki political issue.
“Until a mutually acceptable and durable political settlement is achieved, the Suspension of Operations Agreement must continue,” it said.
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