COCOMI lines up mass public meetings from today
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 16 2025: The Central Government has not taken up any concrete steps and its indecisiveness has only fuelled and prolonged the nearly 2-year-old conflict, Khuraijam Athouba, convenor, Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has said.

Speaking to reporters at the office of COCOMI at Lamphel today, Athouba charged that the Government is not sincere about resolving the crisis and is yet to take any visible action.

To really understand the Government's insincere approach and find ways for resolving the crisis, people should hold public meetings at every locality, he said.

Athouba appealed to people to hold the meetings starting tomorrow till April 30 .

COCOMI lines up mass public meetings from today

There is no normalcy in the State and the Government of India has not acted on the aspirations of the people, he said.

Instead of acting as per the aspirations of the people, the Government has been indecisive and is always changing its narrative of the crisis, Athouba said.

Recently in the Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the Manipur crisis as simply a conflict between communities.

This was very unfortunate, he added.

"The way the Government has handled this crisis, it seems it doesn't want this conflict to end," Athouba asserted.

Amid the indecisiveness of the Government, a paper based outside of Manipur has published a news article claiming China's hands in the conflict here--aimed at distracting and drawing a different narrative, Athouba said.

When President's Rule was imposed in the State, many had this belief that all the hostile areas in the hills and the National Highways would be secured and cleared of all obstructions, and there would be free movement.

Yet, nothing has changed on the ground, and amid PR, a youth named Mukesh Luwangthem has disappeared without a trace, Athouba said.

"The President's Rule has not brought any positive results.

The MLAs must stop dancing to the tunes of Amit Shah," Athouba said.

"There are no incidents of firing, but there is no peace.

The firing has stopped because the Government wants it to stop.

Even when there is President's Rule, there is no rule of law in the hills where armed men are roaming freely.

They haven't surrendered their weapons in total, and no actions have been taken against them," Athouba said.

Dozens of security personnel were attacked and injured while enforcing free movement on National Highway recently.

However, no actions have been taken against those who attacked and injured the SFs, he added.

Further adding to the indecisiveness of the Government is the Governor's inaction against Kuki militants, he claimed.

Instead of taking actions to strictly monitor and control SoO Kuki militants and their camps, the new Governor is busy laying foundation stones and inaugurating projects, Athouba claimed.

In the midst of such a situation, people need to understand the crisis clearly.

People must come together and hold public meetings to understand the situation and grasp the Government's intentions and approach to the crisis, Athouba added.

The sum of the Government's inactions seems to be indirectly dragging the crisis.

People must confront the Government for decisive actions to resolve the crisis, he said.

"It is time we take a firm stand and not allow the Government of India to sway the public in whatever way it wants," Athouba said, appealing to the people to hold the meetings in every locality starting tomorrow (April 17) .

He urged organisers of the meetings to inform COCOMI in advance so that it can send its representatives and resource persons.