GUWAHATI: Fresh violence erupts in Manipur as a Naga rebel group burned down several houses at a village on Monday. The Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) claimed responsibility for the attack which occurred at the K Songlung (II) village in the Kangpokpi district. According to reports, the locals fled the village following the incident.
The ZUF in a statement, said it intensified its campaign against illegal poppy cultivation, narcotics trafficking, and unlawful encroachment by the illegal immigrants within the “ancestral, customary, and historical territory” of the Zeliangrong Inpui Naga people.
The ZUF said action had to be taken as repeated “public alerts” were not heeded to. The outfit said it burned down farmhouses, farms and dismantled unauthorised structures and materials used in illegal poppy cultivation.
“Those involved have deliberately ignored the will of the indigenous people and continued illegal activities that seriously threatened public safety, indigenous land rights, and the future of the region,” the ZUF stated in a statement.
It warned that no foreign or illegal settlers would be permitted to exploit, occupy, or degrade the ancestral land of the Zeliangrong Inpui Naga people under any pretext.
Kuki-Zo organisation Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) said the “razing of the village” in broad daylight not only raised the question of security preparedness by authorities but demeaned constitutional authority of the Governor in the state, which has been under President’s rule since February 13 last year, to exercise his powers to contain such elements from unsettling peace.
“Kuki-Zo villages such as Lhangjol, Loibol Kholen, Kharam Vaiphei and K Songlung (II) in the fringes of Kangpokpi have been constantly considered a soft target by the ZUF,” CoTU said in a statement.
The organisation served an ultimatum on the state government to nab the perpetrators within 24 hours or it would be forced to impose total shutdown on two national highways, which are the lifelines of Manipur, from January 27 midnight till January 28 midnight.
The Sadar Hill Chiefs’ Association said the K Songlung is a recognised Kuki village and it never cultivated poppy.