Abrogate SoO if pact violated : MA to JMG
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 21 2026: The Meitei Alliance has urged the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) on the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement to abrogate the tripartite agreement if violations are established.

In a statement, the Alliance rejected the alleged attempt by the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People's Front (UPF) to dismiss the serious allegations of Suspension of Operations (SoO) violations raised by the Government of Manipur, and conceal the many alleged acts of terrorism its cadres committed.

The issue before the JMG is to ascertain whether cadres belonging to SoO organisations deserted designated camps, carried weapons into violence zones, participated in violence, or otherwise violated the agreed ground rules.

it said.

It added that allegations against other organisations or individuals, however serious and deserving of investigation, cannot absolve the KNO-UPF of accountability for the conduct of their own cadres.

Saying that the revised SoO agreement of 2025 itself states that the "Joint Monitoring Group will henceforth closely monitor enforcement of ground rules, and violations will be dealt with firmly in future, including review of the SoO Agreement," the Alliance therefore called for full transparency regarding the findings and reports of the JMG .

The people of Manipur have a right to know what violations have been reported, investigated and established, and what action has consequently been taken, it said.

If violations have already been reported and established by the JMG or competent authorities, the Government of India must act upon those findings rather than allow the SoO mechanism to become a shield against accountability, it said.

Further stating that serious or systematic violations must result in appropriate legal action and the abrogation of the SoO agreements with the organisations responsible, it added that allegations involving murder, abduction, torture, extortion, attacks on civilians and security forces, destruction of property and other acts of organised violence must be investigated under the applicable laws of India.

If investigation establishes that any SoO organisation or its constituent armed groups have committed acts meeting the legal threshold for designation as a terrorist organisation, the Government of India must initiate appropriate action under the law, including terrorist designation where warranted, it said.

Saying that the Alliance is equally concerned that KNO-UPF seek to cite the ethnic separation produced by violence and mass displacement as justification for a separate Union Territory, it maintained that territorial and demographic outcomes created through violence, forced displacement and the continued inability of displaced citizens to return to their original homes cannot become the foundation for political reward.

The revised SoO framework requires respect for the territorial integrity of Manipur, the Alliance said and asserted that any attempt to convert violence-created segregation into permanent political boundaries fundamentally undermines peace, reconciliation and the rule of law.

The Alliance urged the Government of India to make the relevant JMG findings transparent, act decisively upon established violations, abrogate the SoO where serious violations warrant such action, and prosecute or designate organisations under applicable anti-terrorism laws where the evidence and legal threshold justify it.

Peace cannot be built upon secrecy, denial, displacement or impunity, it said and maintained that the people deserve transparency, accountability and action.

Comment