TCI condemns attack on Thadou student leader
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 26 2024:
The Thadou Community International (TCI) has condemned in the strongest term the attack at the house of Thadou student leader Michael Lamjathang Haokip at Peniel village, Churachandpur, Manipur at around 10.30 pm on August 25, 2024 by about 30 armed miscreants suspected to be subscribers and staunch supporters of Kuki supremacy agenda.
The attackers fired several rounds and they also went inside the home and set on fire some properties attached to the home.
Right after the incident, there was a viral video on social media of a man showing a gun and a bullet and vowing to shoot dead Michael Lamjathang with the gun.
The attack happened barely a few hours after Michael participated in a Manipur-based news TV panel discussion on the topic 'Kuki Supremacy and its Agenda' .
This is the second time his home has been attacked for being a Thadou leader, with the first attack with arson and gunshots by suspected armed Kuki militants on May 6, 2023, three days after the Manipur violence broke out in Churachandpur on May 3 last year.
It is also to be noted that Michael escaped assassination attempt on his life in Churachandpur on April 28, 2023, the TCI said in a statement.
The barbaric and cowardly attack on Michael Lamjathang and his family is an attack on the whole Thadou community.
It is also an attack on civilization and exposes the mentality of the perpetrators who, devoid of any logical debate, resorted to violence.
What Michael discussed, as a part of the panel discussion last night, about the historical and ongoing persecution of Thadous by extremist Kuki supremacists was the tip of the iceberg, the TCI said.
Thadou experiences of human rights abuse perpetrated by Kuki supremacists is widespread and rampant but gone unnoticed.
Examples include, but not limited to, not being allowed to obtain a tribe certificate in the name of Thadou tribe but only in the name of Kuki, to being not allowed to join or participate in Thadou activity, and being forced to proclaim Kuki instead of Thadou, and Thadou leaders and champions being selectively targeted.
The list is endless.
It is akin to living under a totalitarian regime.
TCI would also like to question as to how this can happen in a democratic country where the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to everyone to live freely without any fear.
The violent attack last night was just another example of the Thadous being repeatedly forced to reject their identity and punished for failing to toe the line of the Kuki supremacist agenda.
"For too long the Thadous have endured the onslaught of Kuki supremacists.
It is time Thadous stand up unitedly for our rights and seek justice through non-violence to simply exist as what we are, and for all right-thinking people to stand with us on this", the TCI asserted.
The incident was a fallout of relentless attacks on Thadou community and Thadou leaders by the Churachandpur-based Kuki supremacist-made fake Thadou Tribe Council (TTC) who have been actively engaging in disinformation campaign and violent rhetoric against Thadou, even boasting to know the perpetrators of the violent attack on Michael Lamjathang's home last year.
"We believe in non-violence, law of the land and in civil discourse.
Likewise, we would like to challenge those who believe and use violence and coercive control to instead engage in civil discourse and debates on matters that they may disagree with others.
We urge all Thadous to be steadfast to Thadou values and to remain calm yet courageous in the midst of fear and tense environment created by those who see us as their enemy and incite violence in order to gain control over Thadous", it said.
Highlighting constant violent intimidation, suppression and threats faced by the Thadous, the TCI appealed to all the kindred tribes and especially the Mizo leaders and organizations to help bring peace and understanding and to safeguard the safety of the Mizo community.
It also urged the Government authorities to take stern and immediate actions against the culprits of the attacks on Michael Lamjathang according to the law, with special attention to the role of the fake TTC and its operatives, among other individuals and groups who may be persons of interest in relation to the violent attacks.
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