The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (Cocomi), a leading civil society organisation of Meiteis, has condemned and opposed the Centre’s “anti-people” decision to extend the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with Kuki-Zo rebel groups on Thursday.
A statement issued by the PIB, the government’s publicity wing, on Thursday had said a meeting among representatives of the Union home ministry, the Manipur government and the Kuki National Organisation and the United People’s Front (both Kuki-Zo militant groups) in Delhi had signed a tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement “on re-negotiated terms and conditions (ground rules) for a period of one year”.
The SoO agreement had lapsed last year. There are 24 outfits under the two umbrella rebel groups.
Cocomi, based in Meitei-majority Imphal, said in a statement on Friday that the extension of the SoO pact “despite the series of terrorist and criminal acts committed by these (militant) groups is a decision that runs completely against the interests of the indigenous people of Manipur”.
Meitei organisations accuse the Kuki-Zo rebel groups of fanning the ongoing strife that erupted on May 3, 2023, leaving at least 260 dead and 60,000 displaced.
Manipur is currently under President’s rule.
Reaffirming its opposition to “this anti-people move of the Government of India”, Cocomi reminded the Centre that the Manipur cabinet had on March 10, 2023, unanimously resolved to abrogate the SoO pact. The Manipur Assembly had on February 29, 2024, urged the Centre to revoke the SoO.
“Under the current President’s Rule, the administration is being run by an authority appointed from New Delhi, which lacks the legitimacy to represent the people of Manipur in letter and spirit. The decision to extend the SoO under such circumstances is illegitimate and reflects an undemocratic and hegemonic imposition upon the indigenous people and its elected representatives of Manipur,” Cocomi said.
“This act represents a complete compromise of the basic principles of democracy,” the statement said.
“By extending overwhelming legitimacy and recognition to armed Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist groups under the deceptive pact of the SoO, the Government of India has raised serious doubts about its role and responsibility in dealing with narco-terrorism in the region,” Cocomi added, asserting such pacts have “only shielded narco-terrorist armed groups while undermining the democratic will of the people.
Cocomi also touched upon the issue of free movement on national highways in the state.
“The Constitution of India guarantees free movement to every citizen across the country as a fundamental right. However, by turning this into a bargaining chip with armed narco-terrorist groups, the Government of India has undermined its own constitutional obligations. Such actions portray the Government as holding the Meetei population hostage at gunpoint under narco-terrorist influence. This is utterly unacceptable to the people of Manipur,” the statement said while rejecting the SoO extension.
Since the conflict began, Meiteis can’t travel to Kuki-Zo-majority areas and vice-versa.