Time for Govt to arm public: Kangleipal
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, January 19 2024:
The current situation is no longer the time to wait for the government to protect Manipur but to hand over weapons to the people to defend the state, political activist Sapamcha Kangleipal has asserted.
In a press meet at Manipur Press Club, here, on Friday, Kangleipal said that the village volunteers who are currently defending Manipur are not trained soldiers but civilians who have come forward to save the motherland.
Even though thousands of weapons have been reportedly looted, the conflict continues, highlighting the need for weapons and an army.
Instead of shaming those who have taken the weapons from the armouries of state forces or battalions, they should be honoured for protecting the state's integrity, he opined.
Considering the sophisticated weapons used by Kukis, the state government should hand over weapons to the people, who are ready to defend integrity of Manipur even at the expense of their own lives.
"Allowing those in the hills to carry arms while prohibiting the Meeteis in the valley is ridiculous.
The central security forces should also stop showing their prowess in the valley, while restraining themselves in the hills.
Those in power need not shed crocodile tears while enforcing law and order in the valley but failing to do so in the hills.
The Meeteis do not deserve and will never live in a lowly manner," he said.
Kangleipal continued that earlier, everyone used to believe that the conflict would eventually subside.
However, it is only intensifying.
Thus, the people have a responsibility to defend the land of our forefathers, he stated, while remarking the uselessness of deploying central forces in the hills, considering their lax attitude in curbing the violence.