KIM expresses concern over condition of Kuki-Chin people in Bangladesh
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 30 2022:
Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has expressed its concern over the condition of Kuki-Chin peoplein Bangladesh who are allegedly becoming victims of the ethnic and religious persecution perpetrated by the State of Bangladesh in an entente with other armed groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of A release issued by T Robert Baite, secretary Information & Publicity, Kuki Inpi Manipur stated that the Kuki-Chin people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh are the flesh and blood of the Kuki-Chin groups in Myanmar and Kuki-Chin-Mizo groups in the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam, and Tripura in India.
KIM claimed that the persecution started when the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a special armed police force of Bangladesh, launched an attack in October 2022 against the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA), a revolutionary group demanding the creation of a separate State in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Southern Bangladesh.
"However, what must have been termed as an operation against an armed revolutionary group has taken a turn into a callous religious and ethnic persecution against the Kuki-Chin populace", it alleged.
KIM also claimed that many villages of Kuki-Chin people have been ransacked, brutally forcing people out of their homes.
"Many Kuki-Chin people have become victims to the inhumane torture in the hands of the persecutors.
What is most disturbing is the unconscionable discrimination against the Kuki-Chin groups who are the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts even before the creation of the Bangladesh in 1971", it added.
KIM continued that the ethnic & religious persecution is a crime of the highest nature and calls for immediate assistance & action on humanitarian grounds.
It is also a gross violation of various rights stated under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.Kuki Inpi Manipur further appealed to the Government of India and other Government/ non-Govemment organisations/groups to stand for the cause of justice & humanity and raise voices against the alleged unjustifiable persecution by the Bangladeshi forces against the Kuki-Chin groups in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Kuki Inpi Manipur has extended its heartfelt congratulation to the newly elected president of United Naga Council (UNC), NG Lorho and his entire team for the tenure 2022 to 2026 .
"KIM is confident that the newly elected president and his team will ensure constructive collaboration for mutual understanding and peaceful co-existences throughout their tenure", it added.