Can’t guarantee safe passage, says CoTU
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Our Correspondent
KANGPOKPI, Feb 22: The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) has asserted that neither it nor any civil organisation can be held responsible for providing safe passage or guaranteeing safe thoroughfare for members of the ‘Imphal Valley community’, regardless of any individual or political stature, within Kuki-Zo-dominated areas, particularly Sadar Hills Kangpokpi.
In a strongly worded communique, CoTU said that the so-called buffer zones remain the only effective mechanism for protection against alleged physical atrocities and the systematic desecration of Constitutional provisions safeguarding tribals in the hill areas.
CoTU said that the Kuki and Zo communities bore the brunt of hatred and violence since May 3, 2023, which, it alleged, eventually led to mass eviction from the Imphal Valley by mobs and what it termed a biased State administration back then.
The committee further described the reinstallation of a popular Government in the troubled State under the current dispensation of the BJP-led Central leadership headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “short-sighted political discourse” driven by electoral considerations, allegedly overlooking the political, economic and security concerns of the Kuki and Zo communities.
According to the committee, elected Kuki and Zo MLAs joined in facilitating the reinstallation of the popular Government out of political decency, despite deep reservations and suspicions among the Kuki and Zo people.
The statement also alluded to valley-based MLAs.
CoTU then reminded Kuki and Zo elected representatives that they have placed not only their credibility but also their political fate in the hands of the present Union leadership, expecting an eventual and meaningful political settlement.
Reiterating its long-standing demand, the committee asserted that unless the Government of India resolves to find a long-term political solution for the Kuki and Zo communities in the form of a Union Territory with Legislature under Article 239A of the Constitution of India, any forced political reconciliation between — the Kuki and Zo in the hills and the Meitei in the valley — cannot be construed as genuine normalcy.
Claiming that the situation in Manipur remains volatile, CoTU maintained that without a Constitutional and political resolution acceptable to the Kuki and Zo communities, peace in the State will remain fragile and contested.
KANGPOKPI, Feb 22: The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) has asserted that neither it nor any civil organisation can be held responsible for providing safe passage or guaranteeing safe thoroughfare for members of the ‘Imphal Valley community’, regardless of any individual or political stature, within Kuki-Zo-dominated areas, particularly Sadar Hills Kangpokpi.
In a strongly worded communique, CoTU said that the so-called buffer zones remain the only effective mechanism for protection against alleged physical atrocities and the systematic desecration of Constitutional provisions safeguarding tribals in the hill areas.
CoTU said that the Kuki and Zo communities bore the brunt of hatred and violence since May 3, 2023, which, it alleged, eventually led to mass eviction from the Imphal Valley by mobs and what it termed a biased State administration back then.
The committee further described the reinstallation of a popular Government in the troubled State under the current dispensation of the BJP-led Central leadership headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “short-sighted political discourse” driven by electoral considerations, allegedly overlooking the political, economic and security concerns of the Kuki and Zo communities.
According to the committee, elected Kuki and Zo MLAs joined in facilitating the reinstallation of the popular Government out of political decency, despite deep reservations and suspicions among the Kuki and Zo people.
The statement also alluded to valley-based MLAs.
CoTU then reminded Kuki and Zo elected representatives that they have placed not only their credibility but also their political fate in the hands of the present Union leadership, expecting an eventual and meaningful political settlement.
Reiterating its long-standing demand, the committee asserted that unless the Government of India resolves to find a long-term political solution for the Kuki and Zo communities in the form of a Union Territory with Legislature under Article 239A of the Constitution of India, any forced political reconciliation between — the Kuki and Zo in the hills and the Meitei in the valley — cannot be construed as genuine normalcy.
Claiming that the situation in Manipur remains volatile, CoTU maintained that without a Constitutional and political resolution acceptable to the Kuki and Zo communities, peace in the State will remain fragile and contested.