Kuki-Zo bodies hold protest over alleged leaked audio of CM Biren Singh
The Manipur government on Friday said that they would prosecute, without exception, anybody found involved in creating a law and order situation in the state during the public rally to be held by the Kuki-Zo groups on Saturday at Kangpokpi.
Several Kuki-Zo bodies, including the Kuki Inpi, the apex body of the Kuki tribe, the Kuki Students’ Organisation , among others, have called for a mass demonstration on Saturday across Manipur over the alleged leaked audio tapes purportedly revealing chief minister N Biren Singh’s involvement in the ethnic conflict, while also demanding a separate administration.
“The leaked audio tape provides ample evidence of N Biren Singh’s involvement in the ethnic cleaning against the native tribal Kukis across Manipur in forceful occupation of the Kuki-occupied area”, the Kuki bodies have claimed.
The government had labelled the clip as ‘fake’ and said it had been released on social media in an attempt to disrupt the ongoing ‘peace process’ in the ethnic violence-torn state.
Since May 2023, Manipur has been rocked by ethnic clashes between the majority Meitei community and the tribal Kukis, with other communities increasingly getting sucked into the violence that has continued unabated. Over the past 10 months, at least 220 people, including security personnel, have lost their lives, and over 50,000 people have been displaced.
Instructing the authorities state-wide to take necessary precautionary measures to avoid untoward incidents, commissioner (Home) N Ashok Kumar, in a public appeal made on Friday, said the state government has issued instructions to take up necessary preventive and precautionary measures along with a robust response mechanism to avoid any untoward incident and maintain law and order in the state.
“Any such act of issuing a public notice for organising a mass rally and urging to shut down institutions which can pose grave impact on the prevailing law and order situation and which are likely to pose serious repercussions in the context of the ongoing law and order crisis in the state is viewed very seriously by the state government with utmost sensitivity,” the commissioner said.
He said that one public notice was issued by the Zomi Students’ Federation on August 26 regarding organising a public rally at Kangpokpi on Saturday and another notice was issued by the Kuki Students’ Organisation on Thursday, urging to shut down all business establishments, government offices, and private institutions and join the rally.
The commissioner appealed to the general public, including public functionaries, to keep all business establishments, government offices, and private institutions open and function normally.
He also asked all heads of the central and state government institutions to issue necessary instructions to normally function their institutions during the rally.
“Anybody found involved or provocating in creating a law and order situation in this regard shall be prosecuted without exception under relevant provisions of the laws of the land.”
On May 3, last year, a Kuki body organised a rally that turned violent, attacking Meitei villages with the support of armed militants, which sparked the present crisis in the state.
Meanwhile, Meitei Leima, a women’s body of Khwairamband Ima Keithel (Khwairamband Women’s Market) on Friday appealed to all people to organise a protest demonstration on Saturday demanding Scheduled Tribes (ST) status to Meiteis and withdrawal of ST status from the Kukis.