Farmland being floated as village : Waphong Inthan VA ‘K Songlung : A village with only 2 houses’

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 21: Kholui farm of Tamphoimon--a farmland being floated fallaciously as K Songlung village to allegedly claim benefits of Government schemes, has only two households, alleged a statement issued by the Waphong Inthan Village Authority condemning deliberate acts of arson which have ravaged forest land and hundreds of acres of agricultural land in the Kangchup Seljang sub-division area.
The Kholui farm, which has now been floated as K Songlung village, was initially established in 2017 by Semlal Haokip and his son for "poppy cultivation", claimed the Waphong Inthan Village Authority.
Notably, this farmland was set ablaze by cadres of Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) on January 26 recently as a part of their crackdown on poppy cultivation.
In 2023, the village authority said, Semlal Haokip began claiming the farm as a village under the name "K Songlung"   despite the fact that the original K Songlung village was located in the Kangchup Reserve Forest, and it was destroyed on May 6, 2023 during the Kuki-Meitei conflict.
"It is widely alleged that this claim [of the farm being a village] was made to avail Government welfare schemes such as MGNREGA and NFSA, despite there being only two households at the site," asserted the village authority.
Meanwhile, in its statement, the Waphong Inthan Village Authority said repeated acts of arson committed by "Kuki aggressors engaging in illegal poppy plantation" have caused massive destruction to forest and agricultural land in the Inpui Naga ancestral area of Tamphoimon, it said.
The village authority said forest and farmland in the area were burnt by Kuki miscreants on two occasions.
The jungle of Waphong village was burnt by miscreants on February 17 resulting in the destruction of a vast stretch of forest and plantation farms, it said.
Waphong villagers bravely battled the flames throughout the night and prevented further devastation, it added.
Shockingly, on February 20 at around 11 am, the same group of miscreants once again set fire to the forest dangerously close to Waphong village.
This second incident caused severe damage to agricultural lands, including banana plantations, fruit trees, and other horticultural crops, covering an estimated area of more than 500 acres, said the village authority.
For the people of Waphong, whose livelihood depends entirely on agriculture and horticulture, it caused devastating losses.
The fire spread rapidly towards the habitation area, forcing residents to begin evacuation in fear. Villagers of Waphong and neighbouring Inpui Naga villages were however able to bring the fire under control before it reached the residential area, said the village authority.
It is deeply alarming that the fire reportedly originated near the camps of the Central and State security forces stationed at Kholui farm in Tamphoimon. These forces are presently deployed to protect the reconstruction of Kholui farm, which was earlier set ablaze on January 26 by the Zeliangrong United Front, said the village authority.
Despite their proximity to the incident site, the security forces did not intervene to prevent the act of arson, disperse the miscreants, or assist the villagers in controlling the fire, it said.
Such repeated and targeted acts of arson are unacceptable and provocative. The Waphong Inthan Village Authority strongly condemns the heinous and deliberate acts of arson committed by Kuki aggressors engaged in illegal poppy plantation in the Tamphoimon area, which falls under Inpui Naga ancestral land, it said.