A day ahead of the significant G20 Summit in the National Capital, Manipur is in the limelight in the national headlines again with its unabated violence inviting huge attention to the summit to end the more than four-month-long Constitutional breakdown in the state.
Notably, ten days after the appointment of Col. Retd. Nectar Sanjenbam to the post of Senior Superintendent of Police (Combat), Tengnoupal District, a fresh heavy-firing incident occurred when the peaceful village of Pallel Kuki village was relentlessly attacked this morning reportedly by a heavily armed Meitei militants group plunging the community into turmoil and uncertainty.
The Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kuki tribes, vehemently condemned the alleged abhorrent terror attacks by the Meiteis on Pallel, Kuki village spearheaded by Manipur Police Commandos and the Arambai Tenggol wherein one Kuki Village Volunteer lost his life, and many houses burnt to ashes at Pallel Bazar.
KIM Information and Publicity Secretary, Janghaolun Haokip said that the attack by the Meiteis against the Kukis is a clear picture of N. Biren Singh’s “Double Standard Governance” -the hijacking of the state machinery in the aggression and persecution against the Kukis.
He said that remaining silent about such acts of violence is reprehensible, and justifying them is even more so.
“Such a dastardly attack is a clear reflection of the urgency for a just and durable solution to the political demands of the Kukis”, he added.
Moreover, the recent appointment of Col. Retd. Nectar Sanjembam to the post of Senior SP (Combat), Tengnoupal District is raising eyebrows apposite to the constitutional validity of the appointment besides the ulterior motive of the state government to advance the ethnic cleansing against the Kukis, he added.
He also said that the onslaught upon the Kukis at Pallel and the surrounding Kuki areas has clearly been induced by such unconstitutional and unbecoming steps taken by the state government.
He further said that at a time when peace initiatives are being undertaken by the central leadership in maintaining buffer zones with the deployment of heavy security forces in the peripheral areas, it is deeply reprehensible and appalling that the Meiteis could evasively attack Pallel, pushing the situation to the brink of spinning out of control.
Moreover, an ever-present risk looms that such brutal attacks in Pallel may spill into Tengnoupal and Moreh, where the humanitarian situation continues to worsen, he added.
He also said that until Meiteis and their radicalized organizations are no longer brainwashed to hate and kill Kukis, blood will still spill needlessly in the state.
He maintained that the N.Biren Singh-led Meitei Government not only refused to take real action to prevent attacks but also actively stoked the flames of violence, breeding a culture of hatred and evil that made reconciliation impossible.
He continued that it is pertinent to reiterate that security and stability in Manipur will not be achieved until the Kuki people attain their legitimate rights, the right to govern and administer under a separate political unit, which will be devoid of Meiteis’ hegemony.
Kuki Inpi Manipur will, under no circumstances, accept co-existence with oppression, suppression, and the evil forces persistently attempting to obliterate the Kukis, he added.
The Committee on Tribal Unity Sadar Hills Kangpokpi also strongly condemned the attack on Pallel Kuki areas while terming the appointment of Col. Retd. Nectar Sanjenbam as SSP (Combat) by the state cabinet on August 28 as “Illegal”.
The CoTU Media Cell stated that since day one of the violence, the state leadership showed partisan color in its attitude and the law and order agency of the state has been compromised.
It also stated that against the backdrop of hate, bigotry, and mistrust on ethnic lines, the appointment of a Retd. Meitei Army Officer as a Senior Superintendent of Police in Combat is an outright attempt to pursue the ulterior motives of the state leadership in land grabbing, ethnic cleansing, and display of terror in the hills.
The Attack on Pallel, Molnoi area by the Radical Meitei-Militia this morning is a clear outcome of the appointment of the said Officer in the state police department, it alleged.
Stating that the rules of appointment are nowhere found in the Constitution or in any recruitment rules, the Committee on Tribal Unity urged the Centre Government to intervene and revoke the appointment of Colonel (Retd) Nectar Sanjenbam as a Senior Superintendent of Police (Combat) to maintain the sanctity and Image of the Indian Army.
It also cautioned that there will be numerous protests to condemn the illegal appointment which is purely based on ethnic lines.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, or the ITLF condemned that attack on the Pallel Kuki areas in the strongest terms.
ITLF Media and Publicity, Ginza Vualzong said that as India prepared to host the annual G20 summit in the capital, Meitei radicals have decided to steal the national headlines by renewing their attack on Kuki-Zo tribals in Manipur.
He said that after four months of sectarian violence, the majority community has not stopped its ethnic cleansing campaign and refused to heed the appeal of the central government to stop the attacks so that a path to peace can be chalked out.
He also said in the latest assault on Friday, Meitei gunmen dressed in police Commando uniforms attacked Pallel, a Kuki-Zo village in Tengnoupal district, leading to the deaths of at least one jawan and a village volunteer.
He continued that as we have seen in the past, Meitei women (Meira Paibis) blocked security reinforcements from reaching the area, showing again that they were at the vanguard of the violence.
The Pallel area’s attack comes 10 days after Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam was appointed to lead the commando battalion of the Manipur police, and one wonders if this is just a precursor for things to come.
He then recalled that on Wednesday, a 10,000-strong Meitei mob led by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) disturbed the peace at the buffer zone in Bishnupur, which separated Meitei and tribal areas, by trying to remove an army barricade.
Hosting the G20 summit is a matter of national prestige, and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) does not want to embarrass the government in front of leaders of the world’s major economies with news of ethnic killings in its backward during the event, he added.
He also said that we want political talks to progress and have been trying to maintain peace ever since Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state and appealed for an end to the violence.
However, it is clear that sections of the Meitei community do not want peace and are intent on grabbing attention by fueling the flames of hatred, he added.
