ITLF demands PR in Manipur
Source: Chronicle News Service
Kangpokpi, May 29 2023:
Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) has demanded immediate im-position of President's Rule in Manipur by the central government and sacking of the chief minister N Bi-ren-led government.
Ina release, ITLF claimed that state government along with the state forces have been carrying out ethnic cleansing of Kuki tribal vil-lages since May 3, wherein tribal villages were burnt down to ashes and many innocent tribals murdered.
It also alleged that valley underground cadres dis-guised as Manipur police are committing horrific crime against the tribals.
The Forum also stated that while the Kuki So0 groups are in their designated camps, a handful of single barrels and the licensed guns used by the poor tribal villagers to defend their villages were collected from them by the Army, thereby leaving them helpless and at the mercy of the state-led machinery.
Security forces have even started search operations in tribal villages after allowing looting of arms from 7 MR, 8 IRB, 31RB, Manipur Police Training College and 9 MR, it further alleged.
ITLF also pointed out that the injuries suffered by the vil-lage volunteers indicate the use of these sophisticated weapons looted by the radical groups.
Condemning the actions of the state forces, it strongly appealed to the centre to de-ploy more security forces in Kuki -7,o inhabited villages to protect the innocent villagers.
Meanwhile, in a separate release, Zomi Students' Federation (ZSF) and Kai Stu-dents' Organisation (KSO) mentioned that the recent ethnic cleansing against the Kuki- Zo group perpetrated by the state sponsored Meitei radicals has reached a point of great destruction wherein the Kuki-Zo are rendered helpless with their country made weapons to protect them-selves from police commandos, IRBs and all state-sponsored forces who are actively engaged in shielding the radical groups who have come there to attack innocent tribal civilians with their sophisticated weapons.
The two student bodies claimed that video footage and collected evidence shows valley based insurgents (VBIGs) posing as police commandos and IRBs, using state police vehicles, uniforms and weapons and then entering tribal villages, burning houses and killing village volunteers.
They also alleged that paramilitary forces conducted search operations, abducted in-nocent villagers and blatantly shot at them.
The student bodies also claimed that po-lice commandos resorted to 2-inch mortar shelling, rocket launchers and penetrating munitions in their attacks on tribal villages.
The bodies mentioned that licensed guns of the village volunteers were confiscated and no fewer than 19 village volunteers in Sugnu area rounded up by the 37 Assam Rifles.
The central forces should stop acting in a partisan manner and unconditionally release the arrested volunteers with im-mediate effect, it demanded.