Villagers demand permanent IRB post
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 03 2023: As they have left totally defenceless except for a few commando personnel, the people of Tangjeng, Napat, Pombikhok and Phougakchao Ikhai have demanded opening of a permanent IRB post in the area.

A team of COCOMI went to Pombikhok and surrounding areas and distributed relief materials to the displaced people taking shelter at relief camps.

The team found a handful of commando personnel and village volunteers defending Pombikhok and Phougakchao Ikhai from heavily armed Kuki militants and cadres of Myanmar-based Chin Defence Force (CDF) who have already occupied Tangjeng, Napat and Torbung.

One commando personnel said that there was incessant firing from Kuki militants and CDF toward Meitei villages till yesterday.

Saying that the number of commando personnel defending the villages is too few, he highlighted the urgent need for IRB and MR reinforcements.

Some displaced people from Napat and Tangjeng said that heavily armed Kuki militants and their supporters attacked the two villages on the night of May 28 before burning down all the houses.

After occupying both Napat and Tangjeng, the Kuki militants have been firing continuously toward Pombikhok and Chandonpokpi, they said.

One Wahengbam Subash of Tangjeng Ahallup said that 70 per cent of the total houses of Napat and Tangjeng have been completely reduced to ashes.

If an IRB or MR post is not opened permanently in the area after driving out Kuki militants from Napat and Tangjeng, the villagers will never feel secure to return to their homes, he said.

Pombikhok Meira Paibi secretary Thiyam (O) Jamini recalled that Assam Rifles and other Central paramilitary forces gave assurances in the aftermath of the May 28 arson that Tangjeng, Napat, Pombikhok and other neighbouring villages would be fully protected from any further attack.

However, the AR troops have been watching silently when Kuki militants open fire incessantly, she said.

"As such, we don't have any trust in the Assam Rifles and other Central paramilitary forces", she said.

One villager of Phougakchao Awang Leikai said that police commandos, though very few in number, have been defending the village very bravely.

However, there is a strong possibility of the Kuki militants overrunning the area anytime.

As such there is an urgent need to drive away the Kuki militants who have taken positions in the nearby hills, he said.

He also echoed the need to open a permanent post of State forces in the area.

COCOMI Assistant Coordinator Joychandra Konthoujam said that it's time for all the indigenous communities to fight the Kuki militants as one.

He warned that the future of all the indigenous communities would be in peril if extensive poppy cultivation, encroachment into forest lands and massive drug smuggling being done by Kuki militants and their supporters are not checked effectively without any delay.

He said that the COCOMI is deeply concerned over the well-coordinated multiple attacks carried out by Kuki militants and their supporters at Meitei villages barely 24 hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah's assurance that Kuki militants under SoO pact would be reined in.

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