NEW DELHI: The tribal forum on Thursday urged the Supreme Court in a fresh interlocutory application to direct the Indian Army to take full control of the riot-torn Manipur as it says assurances of Centre and the CM are meaningless as both “have embafked jointly on a communal aenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis.”Saying that the Kukis are being ethnically cleansed by an armed communal organisation, the IA prays for the protection of the tribe by the Indian Army since the State and its Police force are not trusted by the tribals. The organization argues that despite assurances given by the Solicitor General in the last hearing, no relief granted so far. The IA states:
“After the giving of these assurances over 81 Kukis were killed, 237 churches and 73 administration building/quarter were burnt and 141 villages destroyed and 31,410 Kukis displaced from their homes. Assurances of the authoityt are not useful anymore and made in a non-serious fashion and are not even intended to be implemented.”
The forum also expressed disappointment with the assurances given by the Union Home Minister.
It expressed no-confidence with the commission of inquiry constituted by the Centre under the head of former Gauhati HC CJ Ajai Lamba and prayed that it be quashed and replaced by a single-member commission comprising former Delhi High Court Chief Justice and Law Commission chairperson, AP Shah.
Describing as “empty” and “non serious” the Centre’s assurance on the security, relief and rehabilitation of the violence affected people in Manipur, the Manipur Tribal Forum has alleged that the State government backed by the Centre have jointly embarked on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis from the State.
The Manipur Tribal Forum in an application has told the Supreme Court “The assurances of the authorities are not useful anymore and made in a non-serious fashion and are not even intended to be implemented. The reason why this (top) court ought not to rely anymore on the empty assurances given by Union of India is because both the UOI and the Chief Minister of the State have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis.”
The Forum was one of the parties who had approached the top court seeking directions to the centre and the state government to evacuate the violence hit tribals who had fled to CRPF camps and to ensure that they reached their residences safely under a security escort.
in its application filed on June 9, the Forum has said that since the last hearing of the matter by the top court on May 17, 2023, another 81 Kuki tribals have been killed and 31,410 displaced. Besides the killings and large-scale displacement of Kuki tribals, the application says that 141 villages have been destroyed, 237 churches and 73 administrative quarters have been torched.
Stating that the media coverage of the Manipur violence was coloured, the Manipur Tribal Forum has said that the media coverage portraying the violence as a clash between two tribal communities is far from the truth. The forum has alleged that the attackers belong to two outfits backed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
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