NPO, bodies condemn atrocities on Nagas
Source: Chronicle News Service

Senapati, February 18 2024: Taking strong exception to the innumerable suffering and harassment faced by denizens of Senapati district from both the Kuki and Meetei communities, the Naga Peoples' Organisation (NPO), Senapati urged both the communities to desist from constant provocation towards innocent Naga populace of Senapati district and Nagas in general.

In a condemnation note, NPO said Nagas have been maintaining neutrality with the hope that peace and normalcy will return in the state affected by unrest/turmoil.

Unwanted provocations from Meetei and Kuki communities in recent days were uncalled for and the patience and silence of the Nagas are running out, the NPO said.

According to the NPO, recent provocation on February 16 occurred around 1 pm at Phyapou village in Kangpokpi area, where automated weapons were fired towards tranquil villagers from J Songtung (Kuki village) though no causality was reported.

However, fear psychosis and insecurity gripping the innocent villagers is condemnable in the strongest term.

In another incident at Sekmai, four drivers and a handyman brutally manhandled February 16 at about 10.30 pm by some armed miscreants is also condemnable with equal intensity, the NPO said and urged law enforcing agencies to nap the culprits and award befitting punishment.

Poumai Naga Tsiidoumai Me (PNTM) also denounced that a reprehensible incident unfolded in the peaceful confines of Phyapou (Naga village), where automatic weapons were callously fired towards the village from J Songtung Kuki Village on February 16 .

While, thankfully, no casualties were reported, the malevolent intentions behind such an act cannot be overstated, it maintained, while questioning the motives of those responsible and sternly warning against any further attempts to incite discord among the peace-loving Naga brethren.

To the perpetrators and armed miscreants responsible for these despicable acts, the student body issued a stern warning stating their silence and forbearance in the face of ethnic conflict should not be misconstrued as weakness.

The student body called upon both Meetei and Kuki-Zo communities to cease terrorising the Nagas, whether through highway checkpoints, frisking or coercive donation-seeking tactics or imposed taxations.

All Naga Traders' Association (ANTAM) and PNTM also strongly condemned the attempted murder of truck drivers and handymen around 10 pm on February 16 at Sekmai.

In separate releases, ANTAM and PNTM denounced assault on Naga truck drivers, handymen, and their associates at Sekmai.

The forceful looting at gunpoint only serves as a stark reminder of the depravity and intended provocation, they condemned.

Incidents involving mental, physical, financial and verbal harassment, as well as illegal taxes and extortion have been on the rise along the National Highway from Kangpokpi to Imphal in recent days, despite their best efforts to supply and meet the needs of the public in the valley region of Manipur, they stated, while urging law enforcing agencies and the government to spare no efforts in apprehending the perpetrators and ensuring they receive appropriate punishment.

The drivers and handymen, who tirelessly brave the perils of the road to supply essential commodities to the state, deserve utmost respect and protection, especially amidst the on going ethnic tensions between the Meeteis and Kuki-Zo, they maintained.

ANTAM further endorsed Senapati District Truck Owners Association and Senapati District Drivers' Union call for an indefinite economic blockade if their demands are not met.

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