Time for centre to revisit SoO agreement
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 06, 2025 -

THE attack on the office of the Superintendent of Police in Kangpokpi district on Friday evening might have been carried out by a frenzied mob in protest against the officer's alleged failure to remove central force from Saibol village bordering Imphal East district but one can't ignore the fact that there were persons in battle fatigues wielding automatic rifles among the crowd, thereby deepening the suspicion about involvement of Kuki militants.

Ever since the Kuki-Meetei conflict broke out in May 2023, Meetei civil organisations have been asking the central government to withdraw the suspension of operation (SoO) agreement signed with the Kuki National Organisation and the United People's Front, which are the umbrella organisations of different armed groups, on the ground that cadres of these outfits are involved in the attacking and killing Meetei civilians.

As per the ground rules of the agreement finalised in 2008, Kuki armed outfits bound by the SoO pact should stay put in the designated peace camps set up at different locations with their arms kept under double-lock system with one of the keys held by the security authority or officer of the monitoring group and the other entrusted to leader of the outfits concerned.

However, there has been growing suspicion about violation of the SoO ground due Kuki militants' involvement in the conflict.

In fact, in mid-May, 2023 itself, security advisor to government of Manipur, Kuldiep Singh had disclosed that cadres, arms and ammunition were found missing in designated camps of outfits bound by the SoO, thereby corroborating the claims about involvement of the Kuki armed groups in the violence.

The security advisor's disclosure was made during a media briefing wherein Kuldiep informed that inspection was carried out to ascertain reports of involvement of Kuki insurgent groups under SoO agreement in the violence in the state.

During the said inspection maximum number of cadres along with arms and ammunition were found missing in at least two designated camps, he had informed.

It is also worth mentioning that days after the mob violence had subsided, albeit for a brief period, in all the riot-effected districts, gunfights broke out between security forces and suspected SoO cadres.

Though Kuki civil bodies claimed that the shooting incidents had no involvement of SoO groups but were between the village protection force formed by Kuki villagers, the nature of injuries suffered by handful of personnel of central and state forces as well as bullet marks on police vehicles involved in an encounter at Tera Khongsangbi village in Bishnupur district had pointed to use of sophisticated weapons, and not licensed firearms issued and regulated by the government.

Notably, few months after formation of the BJP-led coalition government, chief minister N Biren had remarked that SoO with various militant groups in the state is a failure.

Adopting the same stand in his second term in office, the chief minister chaired a cabinet meeting some months back during which the state government decided to pull out from the tripartite agreement, which was signed during the Congress rule, and urged the union government to review the same citing violation of the ground rules by the SoO groups.

Therefore, it is imperative that either effective measures be initiated to check proliferation of firearms among the civilians or the centre strictly enforce ground rules of the agreement signed to cease hostility failing which Manipur will continue to burn and civilians as well as security personnel suffer casualties.