Kuki militants involved in attack stand : Revise SoO pact call
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 11, 2024 -

One is a little more forthcoming while the other veered more towards the diplomatic side.

On January 2, 2024, Chief Minister N Biren pulled no punches in asserting that the mercenaries from Myanmar might have a hand in attacking security personnel at the border town of Moreh.

A point which Manipur has been talking about and not only in reference to the spate of attacks launched against security personnel at Moreh, most notably for 4 consecutive days stating from the last 2 days of December 2023 and the first two days of January, 2024, but from the start of the current conflict.

Fast forward to January 9 and Manipur saw Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh stressing that there is no evidence to show involvement of militants from Myanmar in the series of attacks at Moreh and qualified it with the words ‘investigation is nevertheless on’.

In its strictest term, neither side contradicted each other but while N Biren stressed on the words ‘mercenaries from Myanmar may have a hand in attacking security personnel at Moreh,’ Kuldiep Singh toed the more diplomatic line ‘No evidence so far to show involvement of Myanmar militants, but investigation is on.’

To a cursory onlooker the dots between the takes of the two personalities may seem to connect, but many may see that not all the Ts are crossed or the Is dotted.

This is where one can see the discontinuation in the narrative, but what is significant to note is the fact that for the first time a man deputed by the Centre to help the State Government as the Security Advisor has gone on record to state that the series of attacks was launched jointly by the Kuki village volunteers and Kuki militants.

The key here is the admission of the involvement of Kuki militants.

And as Kuki militants go, many should understand this as militants belonging to groups which have signed the Suspension of Operation pact with the Government.

This is a point which has been raised from day 1 of the ongoing conflict and rewind to the Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 and one can still remember gun wielding elements taking part in the said rally and being cheered on by the others even as they went on a destruction spree of Meitei houses at Torbung.

And when one talks about SoO groups, remember the president of the ZRA, a SoO group, is a former MP of Myanmar and this is where the tale of militants from Myanmar may be understood.

With the involvement of Kuki militants confirmed by no one less than the Security Advisor, a man handpicked by the Centre to help the State Government, pressure must be upped to have another long, serious look at the SoO pact.

This is where Imphal need to seriously approach New Delhi and see how to put forward a strong, hard case.

Read between the lines and the earlier call to abrogate the SoO pact should be given a renewed thrust.

As The Sangai Express had pointed out in an earlier commentary, one wonders what has happened to the inspection drives conducted at the different designated camps of the SoO outfits.

The last time the people heard of any such drive was at the initial stage of the ongoing conflict and now with Kuldiep Singh himself admitting that Kuki militants are involved in the attack at the security personnel at Moreh, questions should be raised on what the Government intends to do now.

Or will it just be a question of admitting the involvement of Kuki militants in the attack and then keeping quiet while at the same time urging for normalcy to return ?

The admission of the Security Advisor should be read and understood with the stand of External Affairs Minister S Jaishanker when he talked about large scale infiltration as being responsible for the ongoing conflict.

Take two and two together and it should more than explain the emergence of new settlements, especially inside Reserved and Protected Forests.