'Hundreds of tribals flee homes due to Manipur police raids, atrocities'

Imphal, Nov 3 (IANS) Several tribal organisations and 10 tribal MLAs in Manipur on Friday claimed that hundreds of men, women and children out of fear left their villages at Moreh in Tengnoupal district due to the police commandos' search operation and "unprofessional conduct, atrocities and inhumane excesses" in the areas bordering Myanmar.

The MLA and the tribal organisations urged the Union Home Ministry to intervene into the matter immediately and ensure withdrawal of all the Manipur Police commandos deployed in Moreh and other Kuki-Zomi-Hmar tribal inhabited areas and replace them with neutral central forces.

The ten tribal MLAs and two leading tribal organisations -- Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) – alleged that the Manipur Police Commandos launched the search operation in the aftermath of the killing of Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) in Moreh Chingtham Anand Kumar by the suspected militants.

The 10 tribal MLAs in a joint statement on Friday said that on Wednesday, Sinam Kuki village in Tengnoupal district was attacked and houses, properties including vehicles were destroyed by the Manipur Police commandos.

"In the operations that are underway at Moreh, the state forces resorted to arson, indiscriminate firing, looting of civilian properties, vehicles, household items, including valuable ornaments, documents, gold, cash and unprovoked brutality, forcing common people, including women and children to flee into the nearby jungle. Several women have been mercilessly assaulted and molested by the commandos and admitted in the local hospital," the legislators claimed.

Hundreds of women, young boys and girls along with kids took shelter in front of the Assam Rifles camp in Moreh, a border town along Myanmar, 110 km from the capital city Imphal.

They said that the lack of faith that "our people have in the state forces stemmed from the innumerable instances of their direct involvement in attacking Kuki-Zomi-Hmar inhabited villages during the current conflict".

"We have been voicing the serious concern and apprehension our people have against deployment of Manipur Police Commandos at various forums, including the Central government and requesting for their non-deployment in the Kuki-Zomi-Hmar dominated districts of Manipur. Despite that, more commandos have been deployed to Moreh resulting in fresh disturbances and violence."

The ten MLAs also demanded punishment of all erring state police and commando personnel "involved in the atrocities".

The Tengnoupal district branch of the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) also in a separate memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah elaborating the same incidents, sought his immediate intervention to stop the "inhuman torture and excesses by the Manipur police commandos".

The KIM in its memorandum to Shah said: "The incident occurred at a time when the Kuki-Zo people were in the hope of celebrating their annual harvesting festival 'Chavang Kut'. The ruthless atrocities committed by Manipur Police commandos ruined the celebration and terrorised the villages and towns inhabited by Kuki-Zo tribals in Tengnoupal district."

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