The state government has not disclosed its position in the ongoing four-month-old conflict with the Narco-terrorists. Huirem Binodini Devi, Co-Convenor of Khwairamband Ima Keithel Joint Coordinating Committee for Peace, strongly condemns the arrest and physical violence inflicted upon the Village Defenders by the government. She expressed these concerns during a press conference held today at the Manipur Press Club.
Binodini further stated, “The statement made by the Union Home Minister, suggesting that the ongoing crisis can be resolved by controlling the mothers and the Village Defenders, is deeply hurtful to every mother in the state. We strongly condemn his remarks. The war, initiated by the narco-terrorists, is being portrayed as if it was started by the Meiteis.
Laishram Mema, Convenor of Khwairamband Ima Keithel Joint Coordinating Committee for Peace, emphasized that the ongoing conflict is being fought by the Village Defenders who have a deep love for their homeland. Not a single member of the state forces has lost their life in this war. However, the government has failed to take any action against the narco-terrorists, instead choosing to arrest those who have stood up and fought for their motherland. It is astonishing that individuals who have been released on bail are being rearrested. The state government should take responsibility for releasing these individuals and hand them over to the mothers of the state.
The labeling of those arrested as revolutionaries is unjustifiable, especially when ten Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), including Nemcha Kipgen, have connections with unlawful organizations. Mema further said, “The 10 MLAs demanding separate administration should be arrested by the government for demanding separate administration and should be arrested under NSA, as they had taken an oath in the assembly to uphold the territorial integrity of Manipur. The government should dismissed those MLAs from the Assembly, if they are not arrested. The mothers of the state will start intense agitations in the state, if action are not taken up against these MLAs.”