GUWAHATI: Two tribal organisations in Manipur on Sunday called for the postponement of a scheduled session of the Assembly until normalcy returns to the ethnic violence-hit state and the Kuki-Zo community feel absolutely safe in the Imphal valley, the seat of power.
The Committee on Tribal Unity and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum denounced the convening of the 4th session of the Assembly on August 29, stating that the prevailing situation was not at all conducive for the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs to attend.
“If the government decided to go ahead with the session without considering the sentiment of the minority tribal people, any untoward incident arising out of it shall be the sole responsibility of the state government,” the organisations warned.
They said considering the “complete breakdown of law and order and the failure of the State” in protecting the lives of the common people and top officials alike, convening the Assembly session at such a time was devoid of logic and rationality.
“Since the outbreak of the current ethnic violence on 3rd May, 2023, Imphal valley has witnessed the lynching of more than a hundred innocent Kuki-Zo people, and the destruction of thousands of houses, including hundreds of churches and quarters. Even the lives and properties of Ministers and MLAs were not spared,” they said in a joint statement.
“Women were stripped, paraded naked, raped and murdered. Thousands of sophisticated weapons and lakhs of ammunition have been looted, and still remain at large. Yet the present dispensation allows the culprits to roam scot-free. All these instances turn the state into a complete war-like zone,” they further said.
The organisations said while there is “absolute anarchy”, the move to convene the Assembly session, instead of controlling the continued violence “perpetrated by the radicalized Meitei outfit” first is absolutely unacceptable.
They viewed it as the "majoritarian and integrationist approach” of the dominant community to impose its will upon the minority community.
“If the state government is really concerned about bringing back normalcy, it should own moral responsibility and resign for good. Forcing the Assembly session in spite of knowing well that the representatives of a sizeable population of the state will not be able to attend is not only immoral but also exposed the ulterior motive of the dominant community,” they said.