Meitei Leepun shares their version on conflict
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 19 2023:
The Meitei Leepun has asserted that the unrest seen in Manipur is a question of National security "as people scattered across South East Asia have demanded a homeland in one of the North East States
of India" .
Speaking to media persons, Meitei Leepun leader Mayengbam Pramod claimed the law and order situation in Manipur has wrongly been depicted as a Meitei-Kuki clash.
He also claimed that the Central intelligence team seems to be not aware of the circumstances which led to the series of violence in Manipur.
Claiming further that the influx of illegal immigrants to Manipur has been unchecked since 1980, he alleged that the violence in the State was triggered by illegal immigrants.
Saying that there are about 25 to 50 million displaced people in South East Asia and they have been moving from one place to another to establish their homeland, Pramod claimed that these displaced people don't belong to any tribe but are very skillful.
He went on to claim that Kuki militant groups under Suspension of Operation (SoO) pact with the Government have started claiming reserved and protected forest areas of Manipur as their ancestral land.
Saying that the existence of the indigenous people of Manipur have been put at risk by poppy plantations, drug businesses and widespread deforestation, Pramod claimed that people who were offended by the War on Drugs campaign of Chief Minister N Biren Singh used All Tribal Students' Union of Manipur (ATSUM) as their tool to create the hostile atmosphere in Manipur on the pretence of opposing the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list demand of Meeteis.
Many well armed people took part in the so-called peaceful rally of ATSUM, he alleged.