Manipur: 15 Organizations Seek Help From United Nations, International Agencies to End Crisis

 IMPHAL: As ethnic violence continues in Manipur for a month and a half now, 15 organisations of various communities have submitted a memorandum to the United Nations and various international agencies seeking their help to end the ongoing crisis in the northeastern state. In their joint memorandum, the 15 Manipur-based organisations called for urgent attention on the issues of hunger, poverty, militarization, the partisan role of the central security forces, and violation of the ground rules of the tripartite Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement by the Kuki militants.

They submitted the memorandum to the Secretary General, United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Under Secretary-General, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Civil Society Section, Amnesty International, ICRC, India Chapter, and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Asia. A spokesman of the All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO), one of the 15 organisations, said that they underscored the breach of inter-community ties and peace in Manipur and in the northeastern region due to the evident involvement of foreign Chin-Kuki-Mizo (Myanmarese) mercenaries in inciting ethnic violence in Manipur.

Unbiased international attention and intervention are the need of the hour in accordance with the established international humanitarian laws, he claimed. The memorandum drew the attention of the UN and other bodies to the issues of human rights violations and the blockade of the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway, which is the lifeline of Manipur, by the Kuki militant groups and their supporting organisations. The AMUCO spokesman said that the issue of drug cartels and their ever-expanding financing networks in the social and political life of the northeast region and the India-Myanmar borderland has been placed before the UN.

Cross-border insidious economic activities like human trafficking, poppy cultivation, deforestation, illegal immigration, ecological issues, and space politics complicated the state's situation, the memorandum said. "The democratic participation of Nagas, Meiteis, Kukis, and Pangals (Manipur Muslims) in the independent constitutional and modern state-making process in Manipur has been highlighted to acquaint the UN with the fraternal political history of Manipur," the memorandum said.

It stresses the interconnected topography of Manipur as it apprises the international community that the small Manipur Valley is home to nearly 60 per cent of the state's population, which warrants the envisioning of democratic and just land laws.

Highlighting the issue of demography and geo-politics, the memorandum cites the issue of the influx of foreigners, the inability on the part of the Centre to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the Zo exclusive greater homeland territorial project as among the key concerns that prove inimical to ethnic harmony, integrity, and peace in Manipur. The memorandum urged the government to ensure, act responsibly, and provide adequate security measures in vulnerable and sensitive areas so that the communities displaced can return to their original settlement areas.

Besides the AMUCO, the 15 organisations include the Committee on Human Rights (COHR), National Research Centre (NRC), Porei Leimarol Meirapaibi Apunba Lup Manipur (PLMPAM), Indigenous People's Forum (IPF), All Manipur Women's Voluntary Association (AMAWOVA), Irabot Foundation Manipur (IFM), Manipur Students' Federation (MSF), All Manipur Ethnical Socio Cultural Organisation (AMESCO), and the All Manipur Meitei Pangal Clubs Organisation (AMMPCO). (IANS)

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