Newly elected Member of Parliament of Manipur Angomcha Bimol Akoijam has strongly condemned the tragic incident in Jiribam and claimed that the violence is created by those who do not want peace in the state but want the crisis to continue for their vested interest.
Bimol Akoijam was speaking to the media at his residence in Keishamthong, Imphal West on Saturday.
It is astonishing that just after the Lok Sabha election result was declared the Jiribam incident occurred wherein one man was found beheaded after a missing report, the Congress MP said. The incident has escalated tension in the state especially in the bordering district Jiribam, he added.
The new MP said that shifting people from their place after violence is unconstitutional and that security forces should protect them instead. He added that shifting affected people could cause division as the state has already witnessed in Khumujamba Leikai, Churachandpur district during the early months of the ongoing crisis.
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After the people residing in Khumujamba Leikai (Meitei community) were shifted out, the area was completely destroyed, he said, while also citing the example of India-Pakistan partition.
He also appealed to the people not to provoke on social media with misleading posts but rather put in efforts to calm the situation.
The misleading posts and rumours are created by those who wanted the crisis to remain in the state instead of bringing back peace, he said.
“Let the law enforcers handle the situation as they will give a befitting reply,” said Akoijam.
Meanwhile, Manipur police commandos have been airlifted to Jiribam from Kangla Fort of Imphal as a reinforcement team to control the situation of Jiribam which is becoming more violent.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee (ITAC) on Saturday stated that unprovoked attacks and burning of numerous Hmar-Kuki-Zomi tribal houses, including churches in and around Jiribam town by Meiteis have forced the tribals to take a stand.
The burning of houses in Lamdai Khunou, Jiribam is a direct response, the ITAC stated in a press release.
To prevent further escalation of the current violence and for the safety of the tribals, ITAC has announced a total shutdown in all jurisdictions of ITAC.
It further said in case of emergency, passes will be issued by ITAC and volunteers on duty.
ITAC cautioned that anyone not adhering to the shutdown will be solely responsible if any untoward incidents happen to him/her.
It further warned Manipur police force and commandos not to operate in ITAC jurisdictions. Failure to comply with this warning will be retaliated as deemed appropriate and ITAC will not be responsible for any untoward incidents, the committee stated.
