The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a civil society group based in Imphal, has stated that the demand of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) for re-imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur Valley is totally an absurd.
In response to the statement of ITLF and CoTU, the Coordinating Committee stated that the demand of imposing AFSPA in Valley areas of Manipur is just like ‘beating against bush and illogical.’
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In a press release issued on Wednesday, COCOMI claimed that ITLF and CoTU’s demand for AFSPA re-imposition in valley areas clearly showed the gravity of frustration in the present crisis which they have engineered. It alleged that the ransom, demands and killings are happening in Kuki dominated areas.
Moreover, COCOMI said, violation of law and order are in its highest level in their areas where SoO militant Camps are situated. “For the last 40 years there is no rule of laws in hill areas most particularly in Kuki dominated areas, whereas there is reasonable peace in all AFSPA lifted areas of Manipur Valley since long time back,” COCOMI said.
COCOMI further claimed that extortion, looting in highways, kidnapping, etc., were rampaged very recently especially after the outbreak of the present crisis in Kuki dominated hill areas and that it was known to everyone.
