Meetei unity must to protect Manipur: Joykumar
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, February 29 2024:
Observing that the nearly 10-month long crisis in the state is affecting all the people in general and the Meetei community in particular, DGP turned politician former deputy chief minister Yumnam Joykumar said that is high time the community resolve internal conflicts, if any, and move forward with a common agenda.
He then appealed to all concerned including CSOs, Meira Paibi Lups, village volunteer groups, the government as well as the chief minister to never stop trying to forge unity within the community, sort out differences and stand together for defending Manipur's territory, identity and integrity.
Joykumar said that excessive activities of civilian groups could invite censorship from the Ministry of Home Affairs and possibly lead to imposition of President's Rule in the state which in turn will entail re-imposing the Armed Forces' (Special Powers) Act, he said.
Addressing the media at the Naoremthong office of National People's Party (NPP), on Thursday, Joykumar, who is also the NPP national vice-president, said that there were many unconfirmed reports doing the round on social media about the recent incident, which, if true, is very unfortunate.
One should understand that Kukis are closely observing the situation within the Meetei community.
There are apprehension that there might be some instigators behind the recent developments, he said.
Joykumar further said that there have been multiple cases of arms snatching and continuing such activities will only draw wrath of the Ministry of Home Affairs and declare organisations involved in such activities as unlawful organisations.
In a bid to recover all the lost arms, AFSPA might be imposed again.
It is high time for every individual and organisation to think over such possibilities and act accordingly, he suggested.
Expressing concern over Wednesday's arms down protest by police commandos, the former top cop said that creating division within the community in this critical situation is highly uncalled for.
The courage of today s CDO is not the same as those during his time as DGP.
The CDO of those time could easily defend the state from the Kuki militants but that is not the case today.
In the current situation, the civil organisations cannot alone defend the aggression without police and prevent any future misunderstanding and disrespect among others, Joykumar remarked.