UKHRUL: The Kuki Inpi Ukhrul District (KIU) and the Litan Sareikhong Relief Camp have objected to an unannounced visit by Meitei MLA Yumnam Khemchand Singh to the relief camp on Monday, calling it unauthorised and inappropriate.
In a release on Monday evening, the KIU said the MLA visited the camp without prior intimation or permission and was accompanied by security personnel and BJP workers. KIU said the visit violated established protocol and caused distress among Kuki Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in the camp.
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The KIU stated that political visits to relief camps without consultation cannot be seen as acts of goodwill, particularly when affected communities continue to await justice following the violence in the state. It questioned the timing and intent of the visit, noting that the MLA had not spoken out during the period when Kuki families were displaced and villages destroyed.
A separate clarification issued by the Litan Sareikhong Relief Centre said the MLA arrived at the camp shortly after 9.30 am, when most adult inmates had left for work.
According to the clarification issued by Lunkhojang Baite, in-charge of the Litan Sareikhong Relief Camp, only children, women and elderly persons were present at the time. It alleged that the MLA took photographs with children before leaving the camp soon after.
Sareikhong Relief Camp also accused certain valley-based media outlets of misreporting the incident. They said the MLA’s visit was wrongly portrayed as an indication that normalcy had returned, and that two unrelated events — the MLA’s visit and an interview conducted by an independent journalist with an IDP inmate — were merged to suggest an interaction between the MLA and camp residents.
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The KIU and the Relief Camp clarified that the visit was not informed to or approved by the Kuki Inpi Ukhrul, Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) Ukhrul, the village authority or the local youth club. They added that limited movement of Meitei individuals through Ukhrul district has been allowed only out of respect for the Tangkhul community and should not be treated as permission for political engagements in Kuki areas.