COCOMI asks Bhalla for plans to restore normalcy
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 17 2025: The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has asked Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to outline the Government's plan to restore normalcy and uphold law and order in the State.

Demanding reinstatement of an elected Government within the current month, the COCOMI submitted a 13-point memorandum to the Governor today.

Speaking to media persons after submitting the memorandum, COCOMI convenor Khuraijam Athouba said that they talked with the Governor for around 20 minutes on the current situation of Manipur.

The COCOMI appealed to the Governor for reinstatement of an elected Government in the State in place of the suspended animation.

COCOMI asks Bhalla for plans to restore normalcy

The Meitei community has no specific agenda or objective for engaging in the protracted conflict.

Civilians took up the responsibility of defending villages following the security forces' miserable failure to protect innocent people and their properties in the face of sustained aggression launched by Kuki narco-terrorists, the COCOMI team told the Governor.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla was also appealed to see that the village volunteers are not put on the wrong side of the law, Athouba said.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) fully endorsed by the indigenous population represented by COCOMI and UNC must be implemented.

The Government of India must not give any room for demands like Separate Administration raised by refugees and immigrants.

Pointing out that the Manipur Legislative Assembly has repeatedly adopted resolutions that the integrity of Manipur cannot be bargained, the COCOMI asserted that the demand for Separate Administration may not be anti-National from India's perspective but it is unmistakably anti-State from the perspective of Manipur, the COCOMI team told the Governor.

The COCOMI team also asked the Governor to take up necessary measures to uphold law and order and restore normalcy during the period of suspended animation.

The COCOMI team categorically told Ajay Kumar Bhalla that National Highways should be opened without obstruction and stringent security measures should be implemented to prevent extortion along the National Highways, ensuring smooth transportation of essential commodities, Athouba conveyed.

The Governor was asked to launch a comprehensive initiative to identify, dismantle and evict all illegal villages that have sprung up across the State, threatening its demographic and environmental integrity.

The COCOMI team pointed out that UPF leader Thanglianpau Guite is a foreigner and he earlier served as a Member of Parliament in Myanmar.

Likewise, KNO leader PS Haokip hails from Somra Tract, Myanmar, he said.

Questioning from which perspective the Government of India can justify signing Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with foreign militant groups and allowing these groups to open camps within India, the COCOMI sought the Governor's intervention into the issue.

Massive poppy plantation in the hill areas is an undeniable act of narco-terrorism.

The Government must take up concrete actions against the militant groups involved in poppy plantation and acts of narco-terrorism, the COCOMI convenor asserted.

Noting that in countries encompassed by the Golden Triangle, people arrested with even a few grams of drugs are awarded capital punishment, he remarked that India's NDPS Act is too weak or lenient.

He then underscored the growing need for amending the NDPS Act.

The COCOMI also urged the Governor to see that a separate anti-narcotic bureau is set for the North Eastern States.

Pointing out that the Government's failure to take up strong or concrete actions despite knowing about the widespread poppy plantation in the hills areas has created a wrong impression upon the public, the COCOMI team urged the Governor to initiate strong and concrete actions against all those people involved in poppy plantation.

The State urgently requires re-establishment of law and order across both hills and plains, immediate relief and financial assistance for those affected, reconstruction of destroyed villages with adequate security measures and rehabilitation of internally displaced persons, ensuring their safe return to their respective homes and villages, the COCOMI said in their memorandum.

The BJP North East Coordinator has firmly assured that the territorial integrity of Manipur will be safeguarded.

The coordinator must unequivocally assert that the administrative integrity of Manipur is paramount and must be safeguarded without exception, ensuring that it remains uncompromised.

"It is imperative that we eliminate any possibility of Separate Administration", the COCOMI memorandum read.

The Governor reportedly assured that he would work in a neutral manner and take up concrete measures to restore normalcy in Manipur.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla also asked all communities to refrain from provoking each other, Athouba said.

Convenors of COCOMI women front and students front were also present at the meeting with the Governor.