Meeting with Amit Shah fruitful: COTU
Source: Chronicle News Service
Kangpokpi, May 31 2023:
Union home minister Amit Shah visited Kangpokpi district and in-teracted with Kuki leaders of the district for around two hours.
Amit Shah landed in a chopper at Brig M Thomas ground Kang-pokpi at 2.12 pm and interacted with Kuki leaders at 22 Assam Rifles post in Kangpokpi.
On his way to the meeting venue, thousands of people formed human chain hold-ing banners inscribing 'All our houses, villages, and churches in the valley are burnt down', 'We have video proof of Manipur Govt and Arambai Tenggol working together', 'Our schools have been burnt', 'Armouries of Pangei MPTC, MRs and IRBs battalion are not looted, they were handed over without resistance', 'CM is distorting facts, we demand President's Rule', 'Human rights is vio-lated by Biren government' and 'This is state-sponsored ethnic cleansing'.
Meanwhile, the Commit-tee on Tribals Unity-Sadar Hills (COTU) described fruitful the meeting between Union home minister and prominent leaders and intel-lectuals of Kuki community at Kangpokpi.
The committee also sub-mitted a six-page memo-randum to the Union home minister terming the current violence in Manipur as the highest level of conspiracy of ethnic genocide perpetrated on the Kuki-Zo community.
It stated that innumera-ble number of documents, video footages and other mass media evidence have substantiated that a group of politicians in the pres-ent Manipur government conspired against the Ku-ki-Zo community by using all available machinery at the state's disposal.
It also stated that such blatant truths are very well known by the Home minis-try and entire government agencies as to how plans had been executed to wipe out the entire Kuki-Zo populace in Manipur politically and administratively for decades.
The memorandum also con-tained main and immediate demands of the committee.
COTU spokesperson K Sitlhou said the meeting with Amit Shah was fruitful and positive but expressed con-cern over escalating violence even during Shah's stay in the state.
He then sought Amit Shah's immediate interven-tion to end the escalating violence while the Union minister is in the state.
Later, Amit Shah visited one of the relief camps set up in Kangpokpi town and interacted with the Internal-ly Displaced Persons before he left the town.
The Union Home Minister was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, 131P national spokesperson Dr Sambit Pa-tra, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Assam Rifles director general Lt General Pradeep Chandran Nair, IB director Tapan Ku-mar Deka, Director General of Police Manipur P Doungel and other officials.
The ministerial team was accorded warm welcome by cabinet minister Nemcha Kipgen, Saikul MLA Kimneo Haokip Hangshing, depu-ty commissioner Mahesh Chaudhari, superintendent of police Manoj Prabhakar and other district level of - ficials.