Leimakhong oil spill case :: Investigate rigorously : Thawai Mirel
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 11 2024:
Asserting that releasing heavy fuel from a power plant at Leimakhong to Makha Loukhong was a part of the genocidal campaign against the people living in the valley, the Thawai Mirel has urged the Government to carry out an in-depth investigation and take up legal actions against all involved.
Speaking to the media at Manipur Press Club today, Thawai Mirel co-convenor Paonam Sanahanbi said that it is dubious to conclude by simply stating that the furnace oil leaked from the heavy fuel power plant at Leimakhong given the tense situation in Manipur.
Claiming that the furnace oil was released deliberately to kill the people living in the valley districts of Manipur, she said that the valley districts, however, are not limited to the Meetei people alone.
The water bodies in the valley districts are being used by all the people irrespective of their ethnicity, Sanahanbi added.
On the murder of four people who went to collect firewood at Haotak, the Thawai Mirel leader said that the Centre and the State Government should take up appropriate action against the murderers.
She demanded that all the murderers must be arrested and penalised as per the law.
Continuing that the statement given by Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh on the attack against State forces at Moreh was contradictory and confuses the people, she maintained that the involvement of illegal immigrants and militants from Myanmar in keeping the State unstable is known by all.
Notably, Kuldiep Singh, on the death anniversary of Maharaj Gambhir Singh, said that there is no evidence of involvement of militants from Myanmar in attacking security forces at Moreh.
It is time for the womenfolk to start a third Nupi Lan to face the hostility of Kuki militants who deploy different tactics to wipe out the Meeteis, Sanahanbi added.
The ongoing violence has already turned the State upside down but the State Government still hasn't taken up any promising initiative to address the grievances of the people, she contended.
Sanahanbi went on to state that the Meiteis are caught in the middle of Kuki militants' attack and the sheer indifference of the Government.
Saying that the Government considering sending the new recruits of IRB for the training course at Assam amid the violent conflict in Manipur is not acceptable, she said that they will not allow the new recruits to go for the training if the Government cannot guarantee that nothing will happen to them.