ATUM condemns abduction of Aimol chief, son
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, June 20 2024:
Aimol Tribe Union, Manipur (ATUM) has strongly condemned the abduction of Kharam Thadol village chief Chongthu Memory Aimol and her son Thangreng allegedly by Kuki militants from ZEO Office, Kangpokpi district around 2:30 pm Wednesday.
In a release, ATUM president S Munthuireng Aimol questioned whether the Kuki militants have the right to abduct any Naga civilian against their will with automatic weapons from inside the government office.
The kidnapping of the Kharam Thadol village chief and her son is highly unethical as the allegation levelled is baseless, it emphasised.
"But due to timely intervention from various sections of Naga CSOs we could save both of them.
We wish that the abduction group get well educated and focus more on accurate information rather than following kitchen matter information," ATUM said.
The Union is also expressed surprise how the abduction took place inside a government office.
Is Kangpokpi district under Kuki militants and what were the state police and central forces during the incident? it asked.
ATUM further demanded the state government to deploy more state forces at government offices in order to avoid unnecessary incidents in future and apprehend those involved in the abduction at the earliest.
"We strongly urge Kuki militants or whomsoever to restrain from targeting any Aimol Naga civilians and villages of Aimol in vulnerable areas.
Since the flare up of the violence on May 3 last year, we, Aimol tribe, have been maintaining neutrality," it said.
ATUM also cautioned that if such incident is repeated even after their appeal, then the responsible group will bear the full responsibility of the outcome.
"At this critical point, a small mistake can lead to larger ones.
You should be aware of this".
"Therefore, we, the Aimol tribe, would like to appeal not to repeat such unethical act in the future and not to drag smaller Naga Tribe into this conflict.
We are a peace-loving citizens and we look forward for peace," ATUM said.