New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urged by a Delhi-based Meitei organisation to cease alleged Kuki appeasement under the guise of “Suspension of Operations” (SoO) and to outlaw all Kuki armed groups in Manipur.
The Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF), two coalitions of Kuki armed groups, the Manipur administration, and the Centre signed the SoO deal. The agreement was signed in 2008 and was subsequently extended on a number of occasions.
In Manipur, where ethnic violence between Meiteis and Kukis has killed over 250 people since May of last year, the Delhi Meitei Coordinating Committee (DMCC) has called for the preservation of the region’s territorial and cultural integrity. According to a memorandum sent to Modi, the DMCC stated, “The Government of India must stop Kuki appeasement policy under the name of Suspension of Operation (Soo) and stop patronising and supporting Kuki militants and its sectarian politics.”
Additionally, it called on the government to outlaw all Kuki militant groups in order to hold those accountable for the murders of three women and three children in Jiribam area last month accountable.
Additionally, the Meitei body called on the state to repeal the AFSPA. “Government of India has a moral, historical, political and constitutional obligation to protect Manipur and its people from Kuki military aggression with foreign elements against Meiteis,” it said.
