The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of tribes in Outer Manipur, have called on state police commandos to stay out of Moreh, fearing that they will endanger the Kuki-Zo tribals living there.
Describing the move to put security personnel composed entirely of Meitei personnel as an “alarming development”, the ITLF said that the police have ostensibly been sent to the border town to quell recent violence linked to the ongoing troubles in Manipur between the Meitei and Kuki peoples.
“It is common knowledge that state forces are openly supporting the majority community and police commandos have taken part in attacking tribal settlements,” the ITLF said in a statement. “This is why tribal women in Moreh are blocking the national highway in an effort to stop the commandos from entering Moreh town. There are also fears that cadres of the militant groups Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun are embedded with the police commandos.”
The ITLF thus strongly condemned the state government’s attempt to deploy Meitei security forces in tribal areas and feared that it would only increase tensions and lead to more violence.
The ITLF and Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kuki tribe, called on the central government to provide security in Moreh and for the Manipur government to withdraw its forces.
“This is nothing but an attempt by the state government to unleash terror on the population of Moreh. We request the central government to intervene immediately before more violence erupts,” the ITLF added.
