Manipur: Tribal body says CM Biren Singh is 'architect' of ongoing violence

The Committee on Tribal Unity, or CoTU Sadar Hills Kangpokpi, has accused Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh of being the architect of the wide-scale Manipur's mayhem which sees no sight of ending the unrest even after completing six months.

The Manipur violence marked a completion of six months on November 3 with the Indo-Myanmar border town Moreh and the state capital Imphal in the spotlight with incidents of killing, allegations of insurgents disguised as state forces triggering another wave of violence in the border town and its adjoining areas and the recent looting of arms and ammunition in the capital city Imphal.

The Kuki-Zo people observed the sixth remembrance day in all the Kuki-Zo dominated areas paying tribute to the martyrs in the ongoing alleged Meitei atrocities.

In Kangpokpi district, the sixth remembrance day was observed at Kangpokpi Town, Keithelmanbi, Saparmeina, Motbung, Kotlen, Leimakhong and Saikul under the aegis of CoTU.

Candlelight vigil, motivational speech for the Internally Displaced Persons, village volunteers, mass prayers, etc. marked the occasion.

Speaking on the sideline of the event, CoTU's Chairman, Thanglen Kipgen, who is also the Finance Secretary of the Zo-United accused the incumbent Chief Minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh as the "architect" of the ongoing wide-scale Manipur mayhem.

He said that as we look back at the history of Manipur, there are many Chief Ministers, who came and gone, and the diverse communities in the state lived together peacefully, which is why the state of Manipur has been popularly known as the "Mini-India".

He continued that, however, when N. Biren Singh came into power and became the Chief Minister of Manipur he birthed hatred among the peacefully coexisted diverse communities and finally made the Mini-India state a hotbed of hatred, violence, and atrocities disintegrating the hard earned unity, love, and bonding of the diverse communities.

"Now, the beautiful Mini-India Manipur has been split and separated into two, disintegrating two loving communities under the regime of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh with his nefarious designed mayhem that erupted on May 3", he asserted.

The CoTU's Chairman also said that like-minded individuals, intellectuals and well-wisers from the Meitei community are never happy with the mayhem as they also find N. Biren Singh as the architect of the mayhem and they considered he should not conduct the violence in such gravity.

Responding to a query as to how the unrest in the state could see a sight of ending, the CoTU Chairman said that the Kuki-Zo people have completely no faith and confidence in the state Government, so, the Centre Government is now the only authority who could bring an end to this unceasing unrest in the state.

"The path to end the Manipur's mayhem for the Centre Government is to implement the separate administration for the Kuki-Zo people", averred the CoTU Chairman.

Meanwhile, the 48-hour total shutdown of KSO-General Headquarters and the CoTU culminated at 6:00 a.m. on November 4 with no reports of any untoward incidents.

However, with the continued deployment of state forces in border town Moreh and reports of various atrocities committed by the state police commandos on innocent villagers, the Kuki-Zo tribal bodies are likely to take its further course of action which is expected to disclose very soon.