Meiteis urge Centre not to talk to Kuki militants, tribal body seeks President’s rule in Manipur

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), the main civil society organisation of the Meitei community, on Tuesday urged the Centre not to hold any talks with Kuki militant groups, claiming that members of those outfits are responsible for the current turmoil in the state and their cadres are “foreigners”.

On the other hand, the Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC), an organisation advocating the cause of nine Kuki-Zomi tribes of Manipur, on Tuesday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a permanent solution of the ethnic crisis of Manipur and demanded imposition of President's Rule in the state.

"It was learnt from various sources that the government of India is likely to hold talks with the Kuki outfits. COCOMI and many other Manipur organisations are totally against it,” COCOMI Convenor Jitendra Ningomba told the media in Delhi.

He said that the COCOMI, in support of its demand of maintaining the territorial integrity of Manipur, would organise a rally in the state on July 29.

Claiming that the Centre was deliberately supporting narco-terrorism in the northeastern region, the COCOMI leaders claimed that Director of Intelligence Bureau reported 1,25,000 acres of hill areas in northeast region are under poppy cultivation, while about 650 MT of opium was produced annually from Manipur hill areas of Kuki-dominated areas, earning Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 65,000 crore income annually.

"These areas are protected and managed by armed Chin-Kuki Militants,” the COCOMI leaders claimed.

Meanwhile, 10 tribal MLAs, including seven BJP legislators, belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi group in Manipur have urged the Centre to create a separate administration (equivalent to separate state) for the tribals but Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, on number of occasions, rejected the demand.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ZCSC also demanded an NIA investigation "into the root causes of the state-sponsored attacks on the tribals of Manipur and re-introduction provisions of the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act (AFSPA) in all valley districts so that the Army can take full control of the law and order".

The organisation alleged that selective series of attacks on the Kuki-Zomi tribes continue unabated, and heinous crimes against humanity are committed by radicals since May 3.

The Constitutional failure and collapse of law and order in the state necessitated President's Rule immediately to restore peace and normalcy in Manipur, the letter said. It alleged that over 5000 sophisticated arms and lakhs of rounds of ammunition were looted from state armouries across the state.

The systematic injustice, institutional neglect and discrimination of the Kuki-Zomi tribals have been continuing for many decades, the ZCSC claimed.