UKHRUL: The Tangkhul Naga Long Working Committee has called for complete scrapping of the SoO agreement with Kuki groups, following reports of fresh violence in Ukhrul district, Manipur on Thursday.
The committee, in a statement, said the involvement of the Kuki militants, who are under the SoO agreement with the Government of India, in terrorizing civilians and inciting violence has become a well-established fact with numerous conclusive evidences.
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As per the committee, Kuki militants directly opened fire upon innocent civilians of three villages, viz. Sinakeithei, Thawai, and Litan area on Thursday, in what they described as a “coordinated effort” to terrorize innocent Tangkhul villagers and to illegally encroach upon ancestral lands of the Tangkhul Nagas.
“The Kuki militants started shooting towards Sinakeithei village as early as 11 am in the morning. Sporadic firings continued in the area before the firing became more sustained as evening approached. At the same time, the assault from the Kuki militants towards civilians in Litan and Thawai started in the evening,” it stated.
It further stated that the village volunteers stationed at Sinakeithei and Litan returned fire in the direction of the firings from the Kuki militants who are trying to encroach on the ancestral land of the Tangkhul Nagas. However, the village volunteers at Thawai have not yet retaliated, hoping that the armed forces stationed at the village would act swiftly to stop the firing.
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Calling for the complete scrapping of the SoO agreement, the committee stated that it is the “only” sensible option to prevent the Kuki militants from turning Manipur into a warzone.
“The armed forces are expected to uphold their duty to preserve peace and to maintain order in such times. The involvement of the Kuki militants, who are under the SoO agreement with the Government of India, in terrorizing civilians and inciting violence has become a well-established fact with numerous conclusive evidences. As such, the state as well as the central government are expected to swiftly act in accordance to the terms and conditions laid down in the event of any violation of the SoO agreement by the militant groups. At this juncture, the complete scrapping of the SoO agreement is the only sensible option to prevent the Kuki militants from turning Manipur into a warzone,” it stated.
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It further cautioned that the Tangkhul Naga village volunteers would be forced to pick up arms to defend our ancestral land from war mongering alien forces and refugees, should the indiscriminate firing from the Kuki militants and the indifference from the Indian armed forces, the state, and central government continue without any effort to bring about peace and order.