Hand over foothills to Kuki militants or restrain them: Villagers
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 09 2023: Despite assurances of restoring peace, villagers find themselves exposed to vio-lence and assault.

Desperate to safeguard their remain-ing houses, which are under threat from armed Kuki mil-itants, some internally dis-placed people have gone as far as suggesting the government hand over the foothills to the militants and allow the mili-tants to massacre the villagers, unless the government can effectively restrain the armed militants.

These sentiments were echoed by numerous individuals taking refuge in relief centres, including those from Napat, Tangjeng, Porn-bikhok, and Chandonpokpi.

According to Thiyam Ongbi Jamini Leima, the secretary of Pombikhok village Meira Paibi Organisation, the vil-lages encircled by Sugnu, Kumbi, and Saikot assembly constituencies had been living peacefully, untouched by the communal crisis that unfold-ed across the state since May 3.However, the tranquillity was shattered post-midnight of May 27 when gunshots erupted from Kuki militants who had gathered and sta-tioned themselves there over the course of a few days.

The sudden gunfire disrupted the once peaceful night, forcing villagers to flee their homes.

From a safer location, they watched in horror as their houses went up in flames.

Since that fateful day, they have been rendered homeless, enduring sleepless nights and restless days in cramped relief camps.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the response from the district's police authorities and the local MLA, Leima highlighted their perceived lack of effort in safeguarding the villagers.

We are simply demanding the government to flush out the armed mil-itants and confine the SoO (Suspension of Operations) militants in their designated camps under close watch, so that the cycle of violence can end and peace is restored," she stressed.

Despite assurance by the police to prevent violence, fresh shooting incidents oc-curred on Fnday morning, leaving the displaced people in a state of fear and chaos, she added.

Bimola, a resident of Na-pat village, revealed that some local youths had been keeping a vigilant eye armed with licensed guns.

However, the police asked them to lay down their weapons, assuring that police would handle the situation.

Now, around SO women remain on constant watch to prevent unwanted interference, all while spo-radic sounds of gunshots echo from the nearby hill.

Bimola tearfully questioned what they could possibly do against well-armed Kuki militants, and implored the government to either take action to re-strain the armed militants or hand over the foothill villages to them, risking the massacre of the villagers.

Another villager, Subhash, recounted how local volun-teers had recently assisted security forces in flushing out the well-armed militants from Tangjeng village.

After their successful operation, the vil-lagers attempted to establish some bunkers for their own defence.

To assess the loca-tions of the Kuki militants and take necessary precautions, they employed a drone for aerial surveillance.

During the survey, they were bewildered to observe personnel from of a central force alongside black-clad Kuki militants in Tangjeng Ahallup.

The inci-dent left them questioning whom they could trust Subhash further revealed that the Kuki militants still occupied a water supply facility on an adjacent hill-side, constructing bunkers and continuously engaging in sporadic shooting for the past two days.

Taking advantage of the rainfall on Thursday, the villagers armed only with slingshots and swords, with support from security forces, launched an assault on the position of the Kuki militants.

Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries on both side, and the militants were successfully flushed out.

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