Clarify or face boycott: Student bodies to BJP
UKLF's alleged support to BJP
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 17 2023: In the wake of the UKLF's damning disclosure that it supported BJP candidates in the 2017 elections under an agreement with BJP leaders, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Ram Madhav, six student organi-sations including MSF, DESAM, KSA, SUK and AIMS have demanded the Central BJP leadership to come out with a clarification on the claims made by the UKLF.

A statement issued by the six student bodies warned that the people will boycott BJP and root out the party from the soil of Manipur if the Central BJP leadership fails to come out with a convincing clarification.

The Election Commission of India should also take up appropriate action on the claims made by the UKLF, they said.

Presenting a detailed account of the violent crisis besieging the State, the student bodies pointed out that the Manipur Government had launched an eviction drive against encroachers from reserved forest areas and also to stop poppy plantations to save the younger generations of the State.

However, a group of vested interest people instigated violence against the Government's move and now it has turned into a major crisis.

After finding out the involvement of Kuki militants who are under SoO, the Government of Manipur had decided to end the tripartite agreement from its side on March 10, 2023.Angered by the State Government's decision, the SoO militants instigated the common people and used their frontal organisations to push the State into chaos, reads the statement.

As a result, on April 27, Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) and its supporters burnt down an open gym at Churachandpur.

On April 28, the ITLF called a total shutdown in Churachandpur against the eviction of encroachers from reserved forest areas and defied the promulgation of CRPC 144 by the District Magistrate.

The next day on April 29 at 11 am, a team led by the DGP held talks with six organisations of Churachand- pur; and both sides agreed that additional security forces deployed in Chura-chandpur would be with- drawn by the Government and the six organisations assured that there would be no more protest or agitation in Churachandpur.

Despite the assurances given to the Government, at around 5 pm on the same day, April 29, a mob attacked the house of one Oken at Thingangphai Meetei Leikai and burnt down his temple and flag of Meitei seven clans.

As a part of their sinister design, they started a move to topple the present Government and started attacking the Meitei community.

As part of a larger plan to target the Meetei community, they organised a Tribal Solidarity Rally on May 3 where armed Kuki militants took part and attacked Meetei settlements in the Kangvai area by burning down houses and killing common people.

Till today, Kuki militants are continuing their attacks on Meetei villages killing innocent civilians.

It is unfortunate that the Government has failed to control the Kuki militants, it decried.

What surprised many is that despite the deployment of 40,000 additional troops in Manipur, the Government could not stop the Kuki militants from attacking the innocent Meetei villagers.

It has also been found that some of the security personnel are openly siding with Kuki militants while some others indulged in unwanted incidents.

All these led to common people losing faith in the security forces, the student bodies remarked.

The silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi despite many deaths and the violence continuing for over one month has evoked many questions and the people now feel that the Centre simply does not care about Manipur, it said.

On the other hand, ten Kuki MLAs have openly supported the Kuki militants' demand for a separate administration or Kukiland.

Despite the demand threatening the territorial integrity of Manipur, the Government could not initiate any action against these ten MLAs.

Some of the Kuki MLAs are relatives of the leaders of SoO Kuki militants.

These ten Kuki MLAs were financed and backed by Kuki militants during the election to further their demands.

As this has come out in the open, it remains highly questionable as to why no action has been initiated against these MLAs, it continued.

What made the people unhappy is that these Kuki militants are openly violating the ground rules of SoO agreement and the Government has not done anything.

Of these 10 Kuki MLAs, 7 are from the ruling BJP.

"Why is the Central BJP not trying to find a solution through these MLAs? Why is the State BJP not taking up any action against these 10 MLAs till today?", the student organisations asked.

Amidst all these, the open support given by some para-military forces to Kuki militants led to the suspicion on the role of the Government of India, they said.

At a time when the people are questioning the silence of the Centre in spite of killing many civilians by Kuki militants, the UKLF has claimed that they had backed the BJP candidates in 2017 election.

This has further strengthened the fear and suspicion among the common people against the Government.

People are suspecting that the Centre is not taking any action against the Kuki militants because of the help these militants provided to BJP during elections, reads the statement.

It could be possible that the Kuki militants supported the BJP during the election after getting an assurance that their demand of separate administration could be considered.

If this is true, then the Government of India is playing divide and rule in Manipur.

It is time for the people to fight against the Government of India's divide and rule policy, the student organisations asserted.

The student bodies urged the remaining 50 MLAs to go to Delhi and raise their voice against the Kuki militants.

The 50 MLAs should demand the Centre to abrogate the SoO agreement, they said.

"We also appeal to the 50 MLAs to work unitedly forgetting their past differences.

If they continue to think that their personal agenda is more important than Manipur's collective interest, then people may not hesitate to teach them a befitting lesson", it said.

All the 50 MLAs should immediately proceed to Delhi and warn the Centre that they will resign and join hands with people if the Government of India does not protect the State's territorial integrity and abrogate the SoO agreement.

If any MLA or Minister fails to do so, people of Manipur will take a decision to throw them out of Manipur, it added.

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