Imphal: The Meitei Leepun organisation has boycotted former Additional SP of Manipur Police, Thounaojam Brinda and human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam from giving any public speeches until Manipur conflict gets resolved. The Meetei group has warned that they will not take responsibility for any unwanted incidents if Th Brinda and Babloo Loitongbam violates their boycott.
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The Meitei Leepun Lanjinghanjaba Heishnam Shilan annoucned the same during a press-meet at Manipur Press Club on Thursday afternoon. He asserted that Meitei Leepun will cooperate with whichever government in power in Manipur for the welfare of the state and emphasized that they are neither aligned with the BJP nor the Congress. He also claimed that the Manipur crisis was pre-planned by Kuki-Zo illegal immigrants and Narco-Terrorists.
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A video recently went viral in which Th Brinda, a JD(U) candidate from the Yaiskul constituency in the last election spoke about Meitei Leepun and another Meitei group Arambai Tenggol in connection with the prevailing Manipur crisis. Members of the Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun on Wednesday stormed her residence at Yaiskul Jansmasthan condemning her misleading remarks and seeking clarfication.
According to Meitei Leepun, Th Brinda failed to give proofs for her claims.
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Th Brinda on Wednesday itself issued a clarification regarding her earlier statements. She clarified that her statement about involvement of Arambai Tenggol in arson incidents at Churachandpur District on May 2, ahead of the May 3 eruption of ethnic violence as incorrect. She refuted her previous claims and said her statements were based on incorrect information provided to her.
On the other hand, Babloo Loitongbam, a lawyer and human rights activist, director of the Human Rights Alert in Manipur in an interview with NewsClick journalist Bhasha Singh over the prevailing Manipur crisis elaborated reasons behind the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities ethnic clash.
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In the interview with the digital news portal, Babloo Loitongbam had told the journalist that the state has never seen violence on such scale. Babloo also observed that the role of the Meitei indigenous civil bodies over the years has been significantly less, while the state is seeing the emergence of new groups such as the Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, where “militancy ideas are being injected,” which he said is manifested in their articulation similar to that of the RSS.
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It is worth noting that the reportedly dissolved Arambai Tenggol group during May 2023 resurfaced in public on September 30, marching in thousands converging at Kangla Fort in the capital Imphal Valley where they paid floral tribute to its members killed in the ethnic violence, pledging to protect Manipur State.
The Meitei Leepun group headed by Pramot Singh and the Arambai Tenggol have been accused by Kuki-Zo tribals of instigating violence in the state since May 3. However, the two organisations/groups deny the allegation levelled against them.
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