Public Statement : On levelling charges
- 24 September 2024 :: Babloo Loitongbam, Human Rights Alert -

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On the morning of 23 September 2024 some fifty young men came to my house and threatened my family that if I come out in any public domain then my family will face consequences. This is following a press conference by Meitei Leepun (ML) the previous day levelling false charges on me as well as warning people against working with me. The video clips of press conference as well as the visit to my home have gone viral in social media. Therefore, in public interest, I am placing the following facts:

1. I have been working as a human rights defender for the last three decades. I believe in the peaceful co-existence and co-development of all communities in Manipur. I have no financial transaction with any Kuki militant outfit or individuals. Therefore, the allegation that I have received money from the Kukis is unfounded.

2. As a human rights defender I stand up for the right of every person to seek asylum in another country when they are facing persecution in their own country. This includes asylum seekers in India from Myanmar through the medium of appropriate institutions like a functioning Regional Foreigner Registration Office or by giving access to UN High Commissioner for Refugee to offer its humanitarian services in Manipur.

It is through a clear and transparent Refugee Policy where their basic rights including their right to return to their home country when the situation improves, that the land rights of the indigenous people will be preserved and not the other way round.

3. The women referred to in the ML press conference as the “PDF Women Wing Commander” is Ms. Mya Kyay Mon. She was referred to Human Rights Alert (HRA) as a woman prisoner in distress. As empanelled lawyers under the Manipur Legal Services Authority, HRA offered legal aid, secured her bail and referred her to a women’s home in Imphal pending her trial.

She is a citizen of Norway and is of Burma-Buddhist origin. She is not a Chin nor a Christian as widely circulated online. The only charge levelled was that of overstaying her visa. There is no other charge against her.

To the best of our knowledge, she is still detained in Imphal jail. The allegation that I have accompanied her to the UN and the US to raise funds is factually incorrect as she is still placed under judicial custody by the State authority.

4. I am not in touch with any functionaries of the Manipur Meitei Association Bangalore. The “upcoming program of a Naga-Kuki-Meitei meeting” to frame the Meiteis for genocide is another figment of imagination and I have no idea about it, whatsoever.

Babloo Loitongbam
Executive Director
Human Rights Alert
Kwakeithel Thiyam Leikai
Imphal – 795001, Manipur, India