GUWAHATI: A peace meeting was held between Kuki and Naga groups in Manipur on Tuesday following Monday’s arson attack at a Kuki village in Kangpokpi district, carried out by a Naga rebel group.
After the meeting, the Kuki Inpi Manipur and the United Naga Council in a joint statement, condemned the burning down of houses in the K Songlung (Part-II) village, which caused damage to properties and created panic among villagers.
The two organisations appealed to the public to maintain peace and restrain from any form of violence. They cautioned fellow tribals to refrain from “writing/posting unwarranted rumors, false propaganda creating animosity and tension amongst the communities.”
Rebel group Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) had claimed responsibility for the attack. The outfit stated that 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.
Several Kuki-Zo organisations condemned the broad daylight attack. One of them, the Committee on Tribal Unity, had served an ultimatum on the state government to nab the perpetrators within 24 hours or it would be compelled to impose a “total shutdown” on two national highways from January 27 midnight till January 28 midnight.
It could not be ascertained whether the shutdown has been withdrawn or it will be imposed.
Meanwhile, three Kuki-Zo student bodies announced that a “peaceful rally” would be held on January 28 in Churachandpur district on the theme “We Want Political Solution, Not Government.”
“The rally is being organised to register public concern regarding the proposed formation of a popular government in the absence of a settlement, and to reiterate the demand for a political solution to unresolved grievances,” they stated in a joint statement.
Manipur has been under President’s rule since February 13 last year. Speculation is rife about the formation of the government anytime soon.