Defer Aug 29 Assembly session, Manipur tribal organisations urge govt

Two prominent tribal organisations in Manipur on Sunday demanded the government defer August 29 Assembly session considering the sentiments of the tribals and the situation in the state

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) and Committee on Tribal Unity (CTU), in a joint statement on Sunday night, said that the Assembly session scheduled on August 29 should be deferred until normalcy is restored and the Kuki-Zo community people feel absolutely safe in the valley areas.

"If the government decides to go ahead with the session without considering the sentiment of the minority tribal people, any untoward incident arising out of it shall be the sole responsibility of the state government," they said.

ITLF Secretary Muan Tombing and CTU Secretary Lanminlun Singsit, in the joint statement, said that the convening of the August 29 session is an inappropriate decision as the prevailing situation is not at all conducive for the Kuki-Zo MLAs to attend.

They said that since the outbreak of the current ethnic violence on May 3, the Imphal valley has witnessed the lynching of more than a hundred innocent Kuki-Zo people, and the destruction of thousands of houses including hundreds of churches and quarters.

"Even the lives and properties of Ministers and MLAs were not spared. Women were stripped, paraded naked, raped, and murdered. Thousands of sophisticated weapons and lakhs of ammunition have been looted, and still remain at large. Yet the present dispensation allows the culprits to roam scot-free. All these instances turn the state into a complete war-like zone. While there is absolute anarchy in the state, the move is to convene the Assembly session instead of controlling the continued violence," the two tribal organisations claimed.