'Problem lies not in the pact but in its non adherence to ground rules'
Former CM shares thoughts on SoO
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 28 2023: Former Chief Minister and Congress Legislature Party leader Okram Ibobi has said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will arrive here on a two day visit tomorrow and meet the people at relief camps.

Addressing the media at Congress Bhavan today, O Ibobi that Rahul Gandhi will visit some major relief camps at Churachandpur, Moirang areas, Khuman Lampak and Akampat among other places and listen to the grievances of the displaced folks.

Rahul Gandhi will also hold talks with intellectuals, leaders of civil society organisations, student leaders on June 30 at Imphal Hotel to find a way to defuse the tension among the people and restore normalcy in the State.

He appealed to all the student organisations be it hill based or minority Muslims, women vendors, meira paibi leaders to cooperate in the interaction programme.

On Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement, the former Chief Minister said that the agreement was first signed in May 2005 and put into place from 2008 after rounds of consultation and collecting reports and suggestions from different agencies of the Government of India.

Blaming the Congress party for the unrest in Manipur simply because of the signing of the agreement would be wrong, the CLP leader said and asked why the BJP Government led by Narendra Modi is still not abrogating the SoO pact despite being in power since 2014 if the problem lies in the agreement.

The former Chief Minister continued that no Government including the BJP Governments at the Centre and the State will turn down any proposal to engage in peace talks if any militant group agrees to do away with violence and negotiate .

The Congress party has complete faith in non violence, he added.

Continuing that the SoO militant groups signed the agreement after they agreed to uphold the integrity of Manipur and to work in accordance with the Constitution of India, O Ibobi said that the arms, ammunition and explosives of the SoO groups were counted regularly during the time of the Congress Government.

All the militants of the SoO groups have to stay at the designated camps until a final solution is chalked out, he added.

The Manipur Government has an equal responsibility if any of the militants of SoO groups violate the ground rules of the agreement as it is a tripartite talk, Ibobi added.

He further said that it is the responsibility of the Centre and the Manipur Government to make sure the militants of SoO groups conform to the ground rules of the agreement and monitor their action.

The monitoring group has to hold a meeting every month to assess whether the signatories of SoO groups violate any of the ground rules of the agreement , he said.

The State Government and the monitoring group have to send a recommendation to the Centre before taking a Cabinet decision if SoO is to be abrogated, he added.

The point is not of supporting the SoO pact or not, the former Chief Minister said and continued that adherence to the ground rules of the SoO pact is imperative for peace to prevail in Manipur.

Saying that the Congress party expected that the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Manipur would de-escalate the tension in Manipur to some extent, O Ibobi continued that the violence, however, hasn't disappeared from the State even after his visit.

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