So0 groups formed for drug cartels, says AMUCO
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, May 14 2023: While stating that unlawful activities involving Kuki militants un-der Suspension of Operation (So0) are about to cross the limit of tolerance and restraint among the indigenous people, All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO) asked the government of India to clarify stand and decision on So0 militants to the people of Manipur before it is too late.

According to a statement AMU-CO, attempts being made by Kuki militants coming from Myanmar to uproot indigenous people of Manipur in collusion with drug lords cannot be accepted in any manner as it is a matter of life and death for indigenous people of Manipur.

After accumulat-ing huge drug money, Kuki militants are executing their plan to drive away indigenous people and grab the land left by evicted people but the gov-ernment of India (GOI) continues to support So0 militants, the AMUCO said and strongly condemned GOI's continuous support to So0 militants even after acknowledging nefarious activities of the militants.

Questioning as to why the GOI en-tered into Suspension of Operation agreement with Kuki militants formed specifically for drug lords, the AMU-CO said the GOI being fully aware of violent activities of So0 militants now must withdraw from the peace deal though it was signed before realising their nefarious acts.

Despite knowing fully that So0 militants are doing drug business in a big way and openly committing crime against humanity by planting poppy in very vast area, the GOI remains silent which is sur-prising, AMUCO said while pointing out that apart from attacking inno-cent civilians, So0 militants are now targeting state and central forces with sophisticated weapons.

The continuous attacks by So0 militants against civilians and state and central forces are not to bring peace, the AMUCO cautioned and asked the GOI to withdraw from So0 im-mediately.

Stopping or continuance of the communal violence erupt-ed on May 3 will be possible when the GOI takes up ac-tions with utmost sincerity.

Because, the violence erupted when underground groups formed by Kukis newly en-tered from Myanmar along with those already settled in Manipur entered into So0 with the centre and the state government but indulged in drug business and widespread poppy plantation and tried to form their own land where money collected through drug business could establish drug factories independently.

Using the drug money they collected easily through drug business, drug cartels want to evict indigenous people of Ma-nipur so as to establish a sep-arate land where they could administer independently, the AMUCO said adding that attempt for having a separate land is being made clearer day by day with their activities.

With huge drug money, they procure weapons, formed/ backed political party and joined other political parties and trying to achieve their dream by creating political chaos now.

Drug cartels are trying to get advantage in the politics of Manipur through deceit could be comprehended from involvement of drug money in election and the present restive situation.

Drug car-tels are utilising Kuki mili-tants under So0 with remote control and they never want to link with the people and Manipur government.

Apart from this, they never want innocent Kuki people to have cordial relation with other communities of Manipur be-cause drug cartels think that their plan will fail if innocent Kukis have close relation with other communities.

In realis-ing their political aspiration, the drug cartels neither have the doubt of losing innocent lives of their own people nor have the sign of remorse.

Accordingly, the GOI needs to uproot drug cartels from Manipur with utmost nec-essary while bringing peace and normalcy in Manipur, the AMUCO asserted.

The AMUCO asked as to why So0 groups did not welcome attempts being made by lead-ers of various communities to bring peace and normalcy in the state after the communal violence erupted on May 3 but are targeting innocent people.

The So0 groups also give no positive response to peace building efforts being made by both the Centre and the state government and the So0 militants being remote-ly controlled by drug cartels never want the ongoing un-rest to end or subside.

One glaring example is that one of the two warring communities returned to normalcy by May 9 after large numbers of Cen-tral forces were airlifted to the state to control tension of the people.

However, armed So0 militants continue to attack innocent villagers settled in the area close to the villag-es where their people settles and damaged properties and from May 10 they even started attacking police commandos and Central forces for inter-vening their action and sta-tioning in the middle of the two warring communities.

Their attack on security forces continues unabated till date and even caused some casu-alties, AMUCO added.

According to AMUCO, time has come for both GOI and Manipur government to with-draw from So0 immediately and start taking stringent action against drug cartels or else lives and properties of indigenous peoples of Manipur will be lost further.

While stating that it is not the time for the GOI to tolerate sinister agenda of Kuki mili-tants coming from Myanmar, AMUCO said the GOI must now disclose its interest in signing So0 to public as also the benefits of signing the peace agreement.

Large numbers of Central forces were airlifted to the state in a couple of days to bring an end to communal violence but the forces are still unable to control the So0 mil-itants till date.

In view of this, posers are being raised from different quarters whether the Central forces were sent to contain the communal riots or to instigate further violence.

AMUCO also said that Central forces deployed in the state must be responsible for the missing people belonging to one of the two communities in conflict who fell into the hands of Kuki militants.

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