Imphal, Aug 25: The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), a frontline organisation in Sadar Hills demanding reimposition of Armed Forces Special Power Act(AFSPA) in Manipur.

Speaking to media persons, CoTU’s media cell coordinator, Ng. Luna Kipgen, said, “We demand the reimposition of the AFSPA in Manipur to tackle the lawlessness in the state because after the withdrawal of the AFSPA, the state became a hotbed of violence.”

He also said that the lawlessness and the removal of AFSPA in the valley districts added fuel to the ongoing crisis in the state.

It’s been more than 100 days, and we, the Kuki-Zo community of Manipur, are still in fear, and we want to ask the Central government what really constitutes a constitutional breakdown in a state where former MPs houses were burned down by the miscreants during the violence,” Kingpen stated.

Is the burning of a sitting MP, or ex-Lok Sabha MP, or a sitting minister, MLAs not a constitutional breakdown?”.

“Is looting of more than 6,000 arms and 5 lakh rounds of ammunition in a state armoury not a constitutional breakdown?”, and is not a remark of the state Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh, inciting hatred among one community over others not a constitutional breakdown? wondered CoTU.

CoTU wondered, “It then asked the central government what really constituted a constitutional breakdown in a state that required the imposition of the President’s Rule.

On April 1, this year, barely a month before the outbreak of the wide-scale violence on May 3, the AFSPA was repealed from four other police stations following the withdrawal of disturbed area notifications in Manipur Valley.

So far, 19 police station limits in seven districts of Manipur have been removed from the disturbed area notification under AFSPA.

The Army and Assam Rifles are facing various challenges in the current turmoil in Manipur following the lifting of AFSPA, mainly in the valley districts, as army sources say operating without legal cover provided by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is a major limitation for security forces operating in Manipur in the current situation.

The places or areas where the “Disturbed Areas” tag has been withdrawn in Manipur Valley have become the “Worst Disturbed Areas” now and it is vital to put back the AFSPA if the Centre really wants to bring back law and order so as to let peace and normalcy limp back in the strife-torn Manipur state, asserted Ng. Lun Kipgen.

“To restore the badly disrupted peace and completely shattered law and order, the re-imposition of AFSPA in Manipur’s valley is severely vital if President’s Rule is not going to be imposed”, he added.

He said that the looting of huge arms and ammunition is one main factor in the chaos and wide-scale violence, as they are now not only in the hands of the mobs but suspiciously in the hands of the Meitei insurgent groups as well as the surrendered cadres of the Meitei armed terror outfits, who made a sporadic attack on the Kuki-Zo villages in the peripheral areas.

Unless these looted arms and ammunition are completely recovered, law and order, peace, and normalcy would be a mere dream, but unfortunately, the recovery process and rate are still very low, he added.

To speed up the recovery process and rate of those looted arms and ammunition, the Army and the Assam Rifles need to be empowered under AFSPA, as it [AFSPA] will be the only tool to put law and order in the state in place, he further added.

He also said that if these looted arms and ammunition are not recovered at the earliest, the world will continue to witness more bloodshed and violence in the state.

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