Manipur Ministers, MLAs met Defence Minister, demand withdrawal of deal with Kuki militants

way2barak, June 19 : A delegation, comprising Ministers and MLAs of Manipur, on Monday met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi, and demanded immediate withdrawal of Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with three Kuki militant outfits.

The 23-member delegation, comprising Ministers and MLAs of BJP and its ally National People’s Party (NPP), led by Manipur assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh apprised the Defence Minister about the ground situations of ethnic violence-hit Manipur.

A BJP MLA, who is a part of the delegation, over phone said that they told the Defence Minister to take appropriate urgent steps by the Central government to contain violence and restore peace and normalcy in Manipur.

“We also demanded Singh to bring a peaceful environment to the state by putting an end to the ongoing violence and maintaining territorial integrity of the state at all costs. We also demanded stringent action against insurgent groups for violating the ground rules of the SoO pact,” the MLA told the media on condition of anonymity.

The legislators also asked to take steps to bring the militants back to their designated camps.

There are 2,266 Kuki cadres who have been staying in different designated camps in Manipur after the Centre and the Manipur governments signed the tripartite Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with three outfits — the Kuki National Army (KNA), Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), and Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) — on August 22, 2008.

The 23-member delegation included Rajya Sabha MP Maharaj Sanajaoba, state Ministers Thounaojam Basanta Kumar, Govindas Konthoujam, Sapam Ranjan, Heikham Dingo, L. Rameshore, K. Robindro, Th. Shyamkumar, Kh. Joykishan.,

Ministers, MLAs, leaders of various parties, intellectuals, literary and cultural personalities of trouble-torn Manipur in separate groups continued to rush to New Delhi to meet President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other central leaders.

The Congress MLAs led by former chief minister and opposition leader Okram Ibobi Singh reached New Delhi on Thursday, but have not been given appointment with the Prime Minister yet.

A 12-member team of intellectuals, literary and cultural personalities led by eminent theatre personality Ratan Thiyam are also in Delhi trying to meet the President to apprise her about the Manipur situation.