KIM appeals impartial investigation over Meiteis' incessant attacks on Kuki areas; Urges GoI to expedite Separate Administration for Kukis

While appealing the Government of India’s immediate intervention and impartial investigation over the incessant attacks on Kuki dominated areas, the Kuki Inpi Manipur, apex body of Kuki Tribes, has said that the Meitei terrorist groups should curb the culture of hatred and religious discrimination and stop playing a victim card while continuously provoking and attacking Kuki villages and refrain from disrupting the upcoming Lok Sabha election in the hills.

In a statement on Thursday, KIM urged that the Government of India should ensure the safety and security of the minority community by initiating legal action against CM N. Biren Singh and his cohorts, and stop embarking on a communal agenda against tribals and immediately intervene and expedite the Kuki-Zo tribals demand for ‘Separate Administration’ for lasting peace.

The Kuki apex body condemned the incessant attacks on Kuki villages and the recent attempt to disrupt the crucial economic lifeline of the state before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency by the combined forces of the valley-based insurgent groups, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and MP Sanajaoba’s private militias like Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun.

"Manipur is presently bedevilled by an abundance of security challenges that gnaw at the very soul of the nation’s existence as the attacks and killings by Meitei terrorists with impunity have become daily occurrences even when the reportage is repetitively downplayed," KIM said, adding that such attacks by those misfits was pervasive and have the potential to exacerbate Manipur precarious state of fragility. It demonstrated the highest level of insecurity in the state and the government’s loss of its internal security mechanism due to its inaction on Meitei armed militias in the state, it stated.

By all accounts, KIM continued, the Arambai Tenggol, Meitei Leepun and Meitei CSOs including COCOMI and Meira Paibis who introduced the notion of ‘Narco-Terrorism’ and ‘Burmese illegal immigrant’ as a pretext to justify the continuation of the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing against the minority Kuki-Zo tribal Christians should be held accountable as the ongoing crisis in Manipur is all about annihilation and grabbing of land belonging to minority community in the state.

The statement further said that the impunity of Meitei perpetrators who openly called for such annihilation and inaction of the state forces due to communal bias and dilution of charges against such perpetrators was the main reason behind the continuation of violence in Manipur.

"It is imperative for the sake of justice that all perpetrators pertaining to the ongoing ethnic cleansing should be held accountable and brought to justice as per the law of the land but invocation of ethnic or communal affiliations in criminal investigations risks inflaming tensions and undermining the impartiality of law enforcement," KIM added.

The Kukis' top body urged that the central investigative agencies should investigate the issue and pursue justice based on evidence and legal principles, not on ethnic or tribal lines which would further fuel the ongoing conflict.