Denying the allegations published by an Imphal based local daily, the Village Authority of Thingkangphai had clarified that no Meitei was harmed by Thingkangphai Kukis and that the properties of Thingkangphai Meiteis were neither looted nor destroyed/vandalized.
The Thingkangphai Village Authority issued a rebuttal in response to an Imphal based daily report in its September 25 publication under the headline - "Looking back at how Thingkangphai in CCpur was purged of indigenous Meiteis on May 3," which highlighted how properties of Thingkangphai Meiteis were looted and vandalized on the intervening night of May 3 and 4. The report mentioned names of several Kuki men allegedly involved in looting and vandalizing properties of Meiteis.
Rejecting the news report as unfounded, The village authority explained how the Kuki Zo locals of Thingkangphai had extended helping hands for the safety of the Meitei settlers of Thingkangphai.
The authority stated that the details of the report submitted to the Manipur Human Rights Commission as published in the newspaper were purely against the good Samaritan villagers of Thingkangphai, and that the allegation was found to be baseless but a synopsis to trigger the communal riots.
The authority make it clear to the public that the mob was very violent on the 3rd of May and the alleged youth leaders were busy running to and fro to lend a helping hand to their Meitei neighbours to atleast save few houses. They do not have time to loot shops and properties as alleged in the news report of the Sangai Express.
The authority claimed that Ashok Meitei, Commanding Officer of Khuga Battalion, could be a good witness of how the alleged youth had suffered the night. Ashok was rang up all night but he did not pick up the phone. However, the village authority claimed, without any hesitation, the locals of Thingkangphai waited for the morning protecting their Meitei neighbours.
"In the next day, they were evacuated safely and more than 100 Thingkangphai Meiteis were handed over to AR Khuga Battalion," it said.
The Thingkangphai authority requested the villagers who fled the village to have some human decency in their future course of action and not to malign one particular community wrongly which could hinder the peace process.
The village authority highlighted the steps taken under the leadership of Thingkangphai Youth Progressive Association (TYPA) on May 3 and 4 in order to ensure the safety of the Meiteis. It stated that the Kukis understood their tensions, particularly the Thingkangphai Meiteis, resulting from the ethnic clash in several parts of Manipur on 3rd of May. And as such, Thingkangphai Meiteis who did not feel safe at their own homes were given shelter in Kuki houses, it said.
The authority claimed that Kala Meitei, an 80 years old villager, had to be carried on the back by a Kuki young man and taken to safety, and one Ngouba Konthoujam, who was in an inebriated state, had to be taken to a Kuki house, as per the request of his panicking family members.
The authority stated that his ordeal of the incident has also been narrated by Ngouba Konthoujam’s daughter, Renuka, in an interview with Imphal-based social media channel. The trust that Thingkangphai Meiteis have in finding shelter in houses of Thingkangphai Kukis was a testimony to the fact that Kukis left no stone unturned in ensuring the safety of Meiteis, the authority added
On the other hand, the authority also clarified one Rohan Philem's claim on the Church being destroyed in Yaiphakol, Thingkangphai, as baseless and deviod of any factual scenario of the village. The authority requested Rohan to refrain from evil propagandas and abstain from those social evils.
The Hills Journal
K. Salbung, Churachandpur
Manipur-795128
