Delhi-Based Meitei Bodies Urge Centre to Arrest Those Involved in Killing of Six in Jiribam

Imphal, December 7: Nine civil organizations have called on the central government to immediately arrest and punish those responsible for the killing of three women and three children, who were abducted and murdered by Kuki-Hmar militants in Jiribam last month.

In a joint statement, the Meitei Heritage Society, Delhi Meitei Coordinating Committee, and other organizations expressed their outrage at the inaction of both the state and central governments, which they said had allowed Kuki separatist militants to use violence as a political tool to advance separatist demands. They added that this violence was fostering ethnic division and hatred among the communities in Manipur.

The bodies questioned whether the failure to control violence over the past 18 months, or the inaction against Kuki military aggression against Meiteis, was part of a larger political strategy to deepen divisions and divide Manipur along ethnic lines.

They demanded the “immediate arrest and punishment of Kuki militants involved in the Jiribam massacre of women and children” and urged action against all militias opposed to peace and coexistence, as well as all sectarian forces in Manipur.

The organizations further stated, “The Government of India has moral, historical, political, and constitutional obligation to protect Manipur and its people from Kuki military aggression with foreign elements against Meiteis.” They also called on the Centre to “stop the Kuki appeasement policy under the name of Suspension of Operation (Soo) and stop patronizing sectarian forces.”