Kuki militants taking advantage of SoO impunity
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 07, 2025 -

83 pc of deposited weapons from valley districts :: Pix - Chronicle News Service

IF one takes into account that 83 per cent of the total arms surrendered to the security authorities so far was from the valley districts then it could be safely stated that use of automatic weapons in attacking Meetei villages in the fringe areas and killing of Meetei civilians as well as casualties suffered by handful of state and central force personnel in long-range firing, had the involvement of Kuki insurgent groups, including high possibility of those bound by the suspension of operation (SoO) agreement signed with the central and state governments.

In response to Governor AK Bhalla's appeal to the people to surrender illegally possessed arms and ammunition, local police stations and posts of central forces across the state have been receiving assorted arms, ammunition and explosive devices deposited by civilians, also referred to as village volunteers.

Ever since the violence broke out on May 3, 2023 after a tribal solidarity rally against the ruling of High Court of Manipur which advised the state government to consider the demand for granting scheduled tribe status to the Meetei/Meitei community, villages located at the foothills were targeted by well-armed Kuki groups, forcing women, children and elderly Meetei villagers to abandon their ancestral homes and seek shelter in safer zones while the able-bodied formed village volunteers to defend the vulnerable villages with licenced single and double barrelled guns.

However, with over 50 people, majority of them Meetei civilians, slain in the first three days of the clash violence, youths in large number started to raid outlaying police posts and looted weapons from the government armouries, consequently resulting in more attacks and counter-attacks by both the communities.

After the violence raged for over 20 months and dismissal of the N Biren government due to political instability, Governor Bhalla made an announcement, assuring that no legal action would be initiated if the looted firearms and illegally procured/possessed weapons were surrendered within the specified amnesty period.

The Governor's clarion call evoked positive response with many surrendering looted and illegally held firearms.

The police data confirming surrender of 789 assorted weapons, including 321 of non-prohibited bore (NPB) types, and 468 classified as prohibited bore (PB) stands testimony to fruition of the Governor's endeavour for disarmament of the warring communities so as to pave the way for return of peace and normalcy in the state.

However, surrender of 130 firearms including 81 NPB and 49 PB in the hill districts, Kuki populated areas to be specific, compared to 659 firearms consisting of 240 NPB and 419 PB deposited to police stations in the valley districts underscore willingness of the Meetei population to shun violence and aid the Governor in fine tuning strategies to resolve the crisis.

On the other-hand, the vast difference in the number of surrendered prohibited bore weapons between the valley and hill districts corroborate the suspicion as well as charges levelled by Meetei civil organisations about involvement of SoO signatory Kuki militants in the violence.

Considering the fact that maximum number of the armed attacks had targeted Meetei villages compared to handful of incursions into Kuki villages, the surrendered NPB weapons outnumbering PB firearms in the hills also testifies that the Kuki militants are exploiting provisions of the SoO pact.

As Kuki civilians are unlikely to risk attacking Meetei villages armed with only licenced hunting guns, the casualties caused to Meetei civilians during assaults by well-armed Kuki perpetrators confirm involvement of cadres of SoO signatories.