Students hold a protest march to Raj Bhavan demanding the removal of DGP and Security Advisor over the situation in the state, in Imphal on September 9, 2024
| Photo Credit: ANI

GUWAHATI

Scores of students took to the streets of Imphal on Monday (September 9, 2024) to protest the renewed violence in Manipur, resulting in a brief scuffle with security forces as they pelted stones at the heavily guarded Raj Bhavan.

Apart from seeking an end to the ongoing crisis and action against terrorists using drones and rockets to attack civilians in the Imphal Valley, they demanded the ouster of the State’s Centre-appointed security advisor Kuldiep Singh and Director General of Police Rajiv Singh.

Also read | Manipur CM Biren Singh calls for targeted move on militant camps

They asked the 50 MLAs in Imphal — 10 others are Kuki-Zo legislators who have been away from the State capital since the ethnic conflict began on May 3, 2023 — to resign on “moral grounds”.

The students also demanded that the Centre hand over the charge of the Unified Command to the State government and withdraw the “indifferent” paramilitary forces from Manipur.

Videos circulating on social media showed the security personnel chasing the protestors away by using force after they resorted to stone-pelting.

Students in other districts of the Imphal Valley also took out massive rallies against the fresh violence that left nine people dead and more than 15 others injured since September 1. According to the police, drone-delivered bombs and long-range rockets were used in at least two attacks.

Holding placards and banners, the students marched in uniform although all educational institutions in the State remained closed following a government order. They slammed the governments at the Centre and the State for failing to rein in violence even after 16 months.

In Thoubal and Kakching districts, the protestors demanded the protection of the State’s territorial integrity and the abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoP) agreement signed with two umbrella organisations of the Kuki-Zo extremist groups.

The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), the apex body of tribes under the Kuki group, opposed Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh’s reported missive to Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya seeking control of the Unified Command to deal with the situation effectively. “This is nothing short of an attempt to intensify the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Kuki-Zo people. CM N. Biren Singh has time and again displayed his bias against our community,” the KIM said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an ex-serviceman identified as Limkholal Mate was found dead in Sekmai area of Imphal West district on Monday morning. A Kuki, he hailed from Motbung Sarong Veng in Kangpokpi district.

Police said the body was found lying in a pool of blood.

The ex-serviceman’s son, Thangminlun Mate, lodged an FIR with Kangpokpi police stating that the former Assam Regiment soldier was killed after abduction. He said the deceased was reported missing since he had gone out to buy hardware items on Sunday around 5 p.m.

“Around 5:40 a.m. today (Monday), I came to learn through WhatsApp that my father was mercilessly killed in Phumiou area,” he wrote in the FIR and demanded action against those involved.

Memorandum to PM

Hundreds of people staged demonstrations in Kangpokpi town on Monday to protest against the proposed removal of a battalion of the paramilitary Assam Rifles each from Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts. The protest was organised by the Committee on Tribal Unity.

The protest ended after a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was handed over to the district’s Deputy Commissioner.

Condemning the Chief Minister, the protestors said removing the Assam Rifles would end all hopes of peace returning to Manipur. At a public meeting later, they mourned the death of four Kuki-Zo “volunteers” in Jiribam on September 7 and two others over the next two days.

The protestors vowed to defend their ancestral land, protect the Kuki-Zo community from attacks at any cost, resist and reject the policies of the “hostile” Manipur government, and intensify the demand for a Union Territory for the community.