Imphal, May 16: Acknowledging that the collective outpouring of anger by the people of Heirok is due to the excesses committed by some armed cadres who overstepped the line and treated the general public with disdain, the UNLF and KYKL however said that demanding arms to defend themselves is not in the right direction.

In a joint statement issued to the press today, the two outfits once again condoled the death of three persons including a girl as well as the injury caused to another girl, which has considerably reduced her eye sight and added that the anger expressed by the people is perhaps the right time for all revolutionary organisations to reassess and reform themselves.

Asserting that the public is the water and the revolutionary organisations the fishes, the statement said that what has happened at Heirok is the explosion of all the pent anger and dissatisfaction against the conduct of some armed cadres.

However the decision of the JAC of Heirok and Chajing to demand guns to protect themselves is not in the right direction, said the two outfits and added that though their anger was based on the right premises, the decision they have adopted is wrong.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Government of India has been trying to portray the act of arming the villagers to fight the revolutionary organisations, said the statement and added.

that it is becausd of this that the Chief Minister and DGP have been striking the posture that this is the time to teach' the revolutionaries a lesson ! The agenda of the Government became clear when the JAC of Heirok strongly protested the purported statement of the Government that the SPOs will be used in CI operation while their stand was the guns were demanded for self defence, it said and added that the JAC had even asserted that if the agenda of the Government was used the SPOs in CI ops, then they would reconsider the demand to provide them arms.

The two outfits also charted out the likely situation in case the SPOs are actually constituted and provided arms.

In the first instance it has always been the primary objective of the Government of India to let the people kill amongst themselves.

As such the agenda of setting up the SPO is along this line, argued the two outfits and added that this has also been announced publicly.

The reason why the agenda was announced publicly is because the GoI wants Heirok and Chajing to be model villages so that other villages will also come forward to demand arms.

All developmental works, all welfare measures taken up such as making goods available at subsidised rates, construction of roads and bridges etc are nothing but done with the objective of suppressing the revolutionary movement, asserted UNLF and KYKL.

On the other hand, the armed movement will gather momentum with time, said the statement adding that the hills and valley areas will soon be turned into battle fields.

In such circumstances, the armed cadres may find it necessary to enter villages which have set up SPOs.

This will lead to a stand off between the SPOs and the armed cadres and the result will be unhealthy.

Claiming that majority of the people of Manipur do not agree with the idea of setting up SPOs, the statement said that villages which have SPOs will slowly get alienated from the greater society.

The Government will try to project such villages as opposing the revolutionary movement, it said and added that such villages may get essential items like rice, K-oil, lentils, sugar, edible oil, salt at subsidised rates.

However there are other factors that need to be taken care of such as getting other goods and education for their children.

Can the villages with SPOs survive by cutting off ties with the greater society, countered the two outfits.

Taking note of the demand raised by the people of Moirang Ngangkhalawai to provide them guns to protect themselves from security forces, following the custodial killing of an innocent civilian, W Shymjai on May 11- after being picked up on May 8, the two outfits said that the demand of the JAC of Ngangkhalawai is unprecedented in the history of the land.

There have been countless instances when civilians have been killed in fake encounters earlier, said UNLF and KYKL and added that the demand here is a result of me explosion of the pent fury and anger against the security forces..

The cry of the people will add strength to the revolutionary movement.

Two critical issues have sprung up from the demands raised by the JACs of Heirok and Chajing and Ngangkhalawai on the other hand, observed the two outfits.

One is the overriding need of all genuine revolutionary outfits to unite and obliterate all the armed organisations with dubious antecedents and ideologies and the other is the need to for the public to close ranks and adopt the stand taken up by the people of Ngangkhalawai against the excesses of the security forces, said the statement.

After spelling out its observations and views, the two outfits also appealed to the JACs to retract from their stand to set up SPOs and instead launch a concerted fight against the excesses of the security personnel.

Comment