Targeting Central security personnel : Open and shut case
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 16, 2024 -

At least five Central security personnel have been killed by Kuki militants, after Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023.

Add the number of State police who have been snipered as well as the number of Meiteis who have been killed and this is where one is left wondering why some section of the pen pushers continue to refer to the armed Kukis as village volunteers.

Or more importantly why the Government of India has still not come out with an official stand on the status of the Suspension of Operations pact signed with the Kuki National Organisation and the United People’s Front, each representing a number of armed Kuki outfits.

This is besides the question of why the SoO pact was signed with the Kuki outfits in the first place.

Signed in 2005 with a reluctant Imphal persuaded to come on board in 2008, it is this peace pact which has come under intense scrutiny from the people of Manipur and not without reason.

The SoO pact is supposed to get renewed or extended annually on February 28 or 29 as the case may be but there has been no official statement on the status of the SoO pact after the said date this year.

The silence of Delhi on the status of SoO may be understood in the backdrop of the fact that it has always played by the ‘political compulsion’ of keeping Manipur on tenter-hooks, never spelling out its real intention and this has become all that more obvious after February 28 this year.

Whether the SoO pact has officially passed its expiry date in the face of the fact that there has been no official statement on its status or not should be immaterial given the fact that the guns from the Kuki militants are today no longer trained just on the Meitei folks but also on the Central security personnel as well as the State police.

If this is not waging war against the Nation, then one is left wondering what is the understanding of this term to New Delhi and the BJP led Government at the Centre.

What is the political gain that Delhi wants to extract from keeping the SoO status under a cloud of uncertainty ?

Is this the reason why fingers of accusation are increasingly being pointed at the Assam Rifles for playing soft with the Kuki militants and why it has on more than one occasion seen obstructing the State police from cracking down on the Kuki militants ?

Understand this question in the backdrop of the fact that while the Centre has already announced that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) remains suspended and the Indo-Myanmar border would be fenced, it seems to be supping with the Zomi Revolutionary Army, the chief and founder of which is a bonafide Myanmarese citizen.

It was in March 2023 that the BJP led Government at Imphal scrapped the SoO pact with the ZRA and the Kuki National Army and given the strong step that it had taken, one is left wondering why Imphal has not raised a question on the status of SoO with the Government at Delhi.

What is stopping Imphal from doing that ?

This is also the time for the Government to raise the bar and start highlighting the fact that at least five Central security personnel have been killed by Kuki militants and in the process debunk the ‘village volunteers’ lie that has been floated around for too long.

In targeting and killing Central security personnel, the Kuki militants are sending the clear message that they are now in a position to take on the military might of India and one wonders why Delhi and its security forces, especially the Assam Rifles, have refused to acknowledge the reality and continue to deal the Kuki militants with velvet gloves.

Or is the internal security of the country expendable in the face of geo-politics ?

A question which Manipur has been raising for long, after the place went up in flames 14 months back.

The reason why Delhi is being urged repeatedly to acknowledge the reality here and act accordingly must be clear to the BJP leadership, and this should be understood in the context of where it stands vis-a-vis the Kuki militants and its ambitious Act East Policy.

The one line message to Delhi is ‘rein in the SoO cadres.’

If the death of at least 5 Central security personnel is not reason enough for Delhi to act, then one can rest assure that there is no sincere approach to resolve the issue.