Judicial organs weaponised to target minority: ZCSC
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, September 18 2023: Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC) has categorically stated that the judicial organ of the state has been strengthened or weaponised to harass the minority community or punish any individual or group who reveal truth about the current state of affairs in Manipur.

Registration of FIRs against any person speaking out the truth about the current crisis is growing by the day and complaint cases against the Editors' Guild of India, National Federation of Indian Women, WL Hangsing, professor Kham Khan Suan Hausing and Mary Grace Zou are some such instances, a ZCSC statement said.

According to the ZCSC, forced removal of the last remaining Zo people from their homes at New Lambulane in Imphal recently was a true depiction of the stark reality in present-day Manipur that the Meeteis no longer want to live together with the Zo people while the relentless actions of the Meetei groups have created an undeniable emotional and physical divide between the Meetei and Zo communities.

The continued aggression on Zo ancestral territories by Meetei groups coupled with the mounting hate speeches on social media made by individuals who otherwise occupy respectable positions in Meetei society have made it pure fantasy for any right-thinking Zo individual to even contemplate returning to their place of work in Imphal valley.

Moreover, there are growing reports of instances where salaries of certain government employees belonging to the Zo ethnic tribes were being deducted illegally without their prior knowledge and consent, the ZCSC statement said.

ZCSC then urged all the right-thinking individuals of the nation to speak out against the injustice meted on their fellow citizens who continue to live under threat so that their plight could be remedied through a permanent political solution by way of Separate Administration.

ZCSC also called for the wisdom of the Union government to deliver justice and create a permanent political solution for permanent peace, equitable development and peaceful co-existence.

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