The protestors argued that the current conflict is not between the Meeteis and the Kukis of Manipur, but fuelled by external elements that used Manipur as their ground to push narrow and sectarian political agendas. It was an attempt to cleanse out the minority Meetei population from Kuki dominated areas like Churachandpur, the border town Moreh, Dolaithabi, Sugnu, and Serou etc., said the meira paibi members.
TFM Desk
Meira Paibi of Manipur under the aegis of Apunba Meira Paibi Lup (AMPL), Thongju, Imphal, and Khwairamband Ema Keithel Joint Committee For Peace organized a protest sit-in on Monday at Jantar Mantar. The sit-in was attended by over a hundred Meira Paibi who left for Delhi to raise their voices in the national capital as they feel that the Government of India has remained “deaf and mute” to the crisis in Manipur. Manipuri students and people from other walks of life also took part in the protest sit-in.
On the occasion, a memorandum was submitted to Prime Minister N Narendra Modi. The Secretary of AMPL, Thoudam Inaomacha, raised many demands that included the revocation of the Tripartite Suspension of Operations (So)) with Kuki armed groups; the administrative and territorial integrity of Manipur be upheld by the Union Government; the implementation of the National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) to detect and deport illegal immigrants from Manipur; the provisions of Article 3 of the Indian constitution that empowers the parliament of India to alter the boundary of a state be amended to exempt Manipur from the same provision, etc.
The memorandum argued that the current conflict is not between the Meeteis and the Kukis of Manipur, but external elements that used Manipur as their ground to push narrow and sectarian political agendas. It was an attempt to cleanse out the minority Meetei population from Kuki dominated areas like Churachandpur, the border town Moreh, Dolaithabi, Sugnu, and Serou etc., and it has been done successfully, said the memorandum.
However, in Imphal, the Kuki inhabited area i.e., New Checkon has been well protected by both the state and central security forces and there are Kukis still living in the area, said the memorandum. The Meetei population in the periphery of the valley are constantly attacked by armed Kuki groups and are not safe anymore, said the protestors.
Revoke SoO, No ethnic-based law in Manipur, No separate administration in Manipur were some of the slogans raised during the protest sit-in.