AMUCO asks if Kuldiep is here to count casualties
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 18 2024: The All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO) has categorically asked if Security Advisor and Unified Command Chairman Kuldiep Singh is here just to count casualties.

Speaking to media persons at their Kwakeithel Akham Leikai office today, AMUCO president Pheiroijam Nando Luwang recalled that retired IPS officer Kuldiep Singh was sent to Manipur on May 4, 2023 as Security Advisor to the State Government with the primary task to bringing end to the violent crisis which erupted on the previous day (May 3) .

AMUCO asks if Kuldiep is here to count casualties

While the newly appointed Security Advisor could not devise any formulae to control the widespread violence, Kuldiep Singh was given the additional charge of Chairman, Unified Command.

Even then, he has failed miserably to bring down the level of violence, forget about working out a solution, Nando said.

As Kuldiep Singh has failed miserably to control the violence in his capacity, both as the Security Advisor and the Chairman, Unified Command, he ought to step down from the two posts on moral ground else the Government of India must sack him, said the AMUCO president.

Despite the blatant attempt to break up Manipur, the violent crisis is being projected as a communal riot between Meiteis and Kukis, apart from blaming the Meitei community for the same.

But this is not a communal riot.

If it is a communal riot, why are Kuki-Zos targeting State forces which comprises all communities, Nando averred.

It is the duty of both the Central and State forces to defend Manipur from Kuki-Zo militants who have been violating the State's laws wilfully, he said.

But Security Advisor and Unified Command Chairman Kuldiep Singh who is here to advise, control and command both Central forces and State forces has been doing nothing to uphold the rule of law in the face of the open acts of war being perpetrated by Kuki-Zos, Nando said.

As a result, the level of violence and the number of casualties have been rising day by day, he decried.

Categorically saying that Kuldiep Singh has failed utterly to fulfil his responsibility, the AMUCO president asserted that there is no need for keeping Kuldiep Singh in his twin posts any longer.

He said that Kuki-Zo militants are the problem and the Suspension of Operation (SoO) is the issue.

As the Kuki-Zo militants have blatantly violated all the SoO ground rules, the Government must withdraw from SoO.

At the same time, all those infiltrators (Kuki-Zo militants) must be driven out from the soil of Manipur otherwise there would be no solution, he said.

Now a big question has emerged whether Moreh has fallen under the control of Kuki-Zo militants.

If yes, what are the Assam Rifles troops doing all these days who are tasked to guard the Indo (Manipur)-Myanmar border, he said.

If the AR troops cannot secure the international border, there is no purpose for them to stay here in Manipur, Nando asserted.

There have been numerous and repeated incidents of Kuki-Zo militants attacking Meitei villages from places quite close to camps of Assam Rifles and other Central forces, he remarked.

He went on to ask if the Central forces are here to protect citizens or assist the Kuki-Zo militants in their war against Meiteis.

He also expressed strong suspicion whether all the Ministers, MPs and MLAs of Manipur have been silenced by the Central Government.

During the initial phase of the Kuki-Zo aggression, Meitei MLAs, Ministers and MPs were seen visiting places attacked by Kuki-Zo militants but these days they are staying aloof from the frontlines, he remarked.

"The fight is for the protection of the Meitei community and Meitei identity.

We must fight together to protect ourselves.

State forces too must fight the war with heart and soul", Nando Luwang said.

The voice message of a responsible police officer currently posted at Moreh which went viral in social media is an undeniable testimony that Kuki-Zo militants from Myanmar are also taking active parts in the war against the State of Manipur.

The voice message said that the State forces deployed at Moreh were being attacked by a large number of terrorists who spoke Myanmarese.

But the Security Advisor had the audacity to claim that there was no evidence of the involvement of external hands in the war against the State.

This statement of the Security Advisor was quite immature, he remarked.

He asked where did the endless supply of sophisticated arms and ammunition used by Kuki-Zo militants come from.

A number of top military officers went to Moreh in an apparent bid to bring peace and normalcy in the border town but Kuki-Zo militants launched a full scale war against the State forces deployed there barely 48 hours after the top military officers left Moreh.

The Kuki-Zo militants' full scale war against State forces puts a big question on the purpose of the top military officers' visit to Moreh, he added.

Meanwhile, the Poirei Leimarol Meira Paibi Apunba Manipur and the All Manipur Women's Voluntary Association (AMAWOVA) too have demanded removal of Kuldiep Singh from the post of Chairman, Unified Command.

Speaking to media persons at Khoyathong today, Poirei Leimarol Meira Paibi Apunba Manipur general secretary Th Apabi said that the level of violence has been only growing since he took over as the Unified Command Chairman.

Even after many police personnel on duty have been killed by Kuki-Zo militants, Kuldiep Singh has failed to take any concrete step.

People have lost faith in Kuldiep Singh, Apabi said.

AMAWOVA president Y Kunjarani was also present at the press meet.