GUWAHATI: Two houses were torched by the miscreants in Imphal on Thursday even as the Manipur Tribal Forum filed a fresh Interlocutory Application in the Supreme Court alleging that Centre and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh jointly embarked on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of Kukis.
The incident of arson occurred in the New Checkon area. The security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse a mob that blocked the path of the personnel.
The Army said enhanced area domination operations were being undertaken in fringe areas and higher reaches. In the past fortnight, the incidents of violence were reported mostly from such areas.
In the Interlocutory Application, the Manipur Tribal Forum urged the Supreme Court not to rely on the “empty assurances” of the Centre. It said despite assurances, no relief has been granted so far.
“After the giving of these assurances, over 81 Kukis were killed, 237 churches and 73 administration building/quarter were burnt and 141 villages were destroyed and 31410 Kukis were displaced from their homes. The assurances of the authorities are not useful anymore and made in a non-serious fashion and are not even intended to be implemented,” the Interlocutory Application reads.
Meanwhile, 15 Imphal Valley-based organisations have written to the United Nations drawing its attention to the crises. They said the involvement of “foreign armed mercenaries” in the conflict needs to be probed.
“The power of ‘precision shots’ unleashed by the suspected Chin-Kuki militants in the name of ‘ethnic minority’ not only killed Meitei civilians but also personnel of state and central security forces,” the organisations said in a joint memorandum.
They added that unbiased international attention and intervention are the need of the hour to restore normalcy.
Government officials said the offline classes for the first-year MBBS students of Churachandpur Medical College would be conducted at the college as well as the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal. The students had earlier raised concern over their safety given the volatile situation.