'EU resolution guided by misleading perspective'
COCOMI spells out correct narrative
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 23 2023: The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) has categorically stated that the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on the Manipur violence was guided by wrong and misleading perspective.

While appreciating the European Parliament's pro-active approach in demanding action from the Government of India to address the Manipur crisis, a letter sent by COCOMI to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said, "Your resolutions were guided by wrong and misleading perspective which made you arrive at a flawed understanding of the issue in Manipur as a conflict between Christian minority and majority Meetei Hindu" .

It then pointed out that the recent violence which erupted in Manipur was not on religious line.

The recent violence was between immigrant Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups and indigenous Meetei community.

Hundreds of Churches belonging to about 25 ethnic communities are still standing tall and performing their services in the heart of Meetei dominated areas including the capital city Imphal, COCOMI said.

Many Christian ethnic communities except Chin-Kuki groups are still settled in Imphal and other Meetei dominated areas and living together in harmony.

Around 1,70,000 Meetei people are also Christians.

It is 35 percent of the total Kuki Christian population in Manipur, reads the letter.

The first ever Christian convert in Manipur is also a Meetei and their descendants are still Christians.

100 percent of the Meetei including Meetei Christians were ethnically cleansed from the Chin-Kuki Christian dominated areas namely; Churachandpur, Saikul and Kangpokpi in Manipur on 3rd and 4th of May, 2023 by Chin-Kuki Christians only.

100 percent of the Meetei religious centres in the Kuki dominated hill areas are being completely destroyed and wiped out, COCOMI told the European Parliament.

Every Meetei (Hindu and Sanamahi) house comprises of three important temples or places of worship (Lainingthou Sanamahi Kachin, Ibenthou Emoinu and Sagei Apokpa Temple) inside the house itself, which is quite different from the Christian set-up of Churches for each colony.

So, when a Meetei house is being burned down, it also includes three important places of worship, it said.

"Considering the above factual context and circumstances we would like to draw your attention to give more focus on the issue of the Chin-Kuki Narco-Terrorism which has direct relation to the ongoing violence in Manipur.

Because the prevalence of narco-terrorism and its finance capital to usurp political power and democratic institutions have a significant impact on the polity and harmony in Manipur", COCOMI said.

"Acknowledgement of the involvement of the narco-terrorists in the present situation in Manipur in your Resolution would have provided a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges we face in the Indo-Myanmar borderlands", it asserted.

Moreover, it is crucial to consider the broader context and the pressing issues that have shaped the present violence in Manipur.

The emerging narco-terrorist activities and establishment of a narco-economy (Indian Intelligence Bureau Director reports estimated the total amount to 50,000 Crore or 500 Billion INR to 65000 Crore or 650 Billion INR annually) inside the territory of Manipur primarily operated and managed by the armed (illegal) immigrants and their drug cartel syndicates in India from Myanmar belonging to Chin-Kuki tribes who are Christians is the main cause of the ongoing violence in Manipur, it pointed out.

A thick, dense, and lush green forest area of about 125,000 acres (90 percent in Kuki dominated areas) is being completely deforested for Opium Poppy cultivation, and its estimated production of Opium is about 500 MT (Metric Ton) to 625 MT annually, it added.

The Chin-Kuki tribes in Manipur are Christians, and they are the main community indulging in poppy cultivation, opium production and drug trafficking from across the border from Myanmar to India.

The Chin-Kuki tribes are using their dominated or inhibited areas as a warehouse and transit for all sorts of illegal drug and (small) arms trafficking.

All necessary infrastructure and network for institutionalizing the narco-economy are being set up in Manipur like armed militants, poppy farms, illegal immigrant settlements, and massive deforestation, and establishment of illegal villages which are a real threat in Manipur.

This alarming development creates a highly volatile socio-political environment where a small spark can quickly escalate into an inferno, reads the COCOMI's letter.

There is a need to recognize the geo-political factors at play, including the political instability in Myanmar, the clandestine narco-economy, and the ethno-nationalist mobilization of the 'Chin-Kuki-Mizo' ethnic armed groups that has the potential to destabilise the inter-ethnic harmony and co-existence in the borderlands of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The Chin-Kuki ethno-nationalism has not only affected harmony in the Chin State of Myanmar, Mizoram, and Manipur in India but also the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, it continued.

"Your unwavering support and influence are vital and the people of Manipur anticipates that the European Union shall live up to its responsibility and play a non-partisan active role in resolving the ongoing crisis, and will not let a New Golden Triangle emerge in the region, particularly in Manipur", it added.

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