New Delhi: A delegation comprising 40 legislators from ethnic-violence torn Manipur petitioned the Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to work towards a solution for long lasting peace while insisting on a three-point charter including complete disarmament, withdrawal of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) Agreement and implementation of NRC.
'Complete disarmament'- The delegation found fault with the present deployment, which it dubbed as "inadequate". The petition advocated "complete disarmament" as means to halt the violence in the peripheral areas.
"The entire state requires a complete disarmament to foster an environment of peace and security. The confiscation of all weapons belonging to insurgent groups and illegal armed foreign forces and those snatched from the state machinery needs to be carried out," the memorandum said, insisting the central security forces to adopt a more proactive approach to ensure lasting peace in the region.
Public lost faith in forces- The petition said they had been hearing instances of farmers going out to work their fields (to subsist) only to be fired upon by militants from elevated positions. It claimed that the weapons used by militants were sophisticated military grade arms which include assault, sniper rifles and Rocket propelled Grenades (RPGs). It also accused that most of these firing incidents occurred in the presence of Central Security Forces which they blamed to have not reacted properly, or not react at all. "This has led to a loss of faith in these forces and the buildup of public resentment," it said.
Remove 3 battalions of Assam Rifles- The legislators want three battalions of the Assam Rifles the 9th, 22nd and 37th to be replaced with the central security forces. "Regarding deployment of forces, the Assam Rifles (9, 22 and 37) need to be transferred from their present location of deployment while trustworthy Central forces along with state security can replace them to sanitize and neutralize to neutralize and sanitize the whole area of any and all threats to peace, security and stability," the petition said.
'Withdrawal of SoO'- The petition demanded the withdrawal of the So0 agreement with all those who have violated the ground rules at the earliest is recommended to remove any disadvantages for the Central Forces with regard to the rules of engagement with these threats. The legislators claimed that there was a large scale foreign infiltration with arms and ammunition into the state wanted the Central forces to proactively engage with them.
There has been a non-stop conflict between the State/Central forces and these insurgent armed groups in the state for the last 3 months. The source and funding of these sophisticated arms and ammunition needs to be investigated, keeping in view of how the conflict has lasted for the past three months, and the arms continue to arrive into the state, the petition urged.
Implementation of NRC- The MLAs suggest that the issue must be addressed politically in order to resolve the conflict and the the National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) can be the key. To reassure the indigenous people of Manipur, the NRC can be implemented in Manipur, sooner rather than later. Biometric registrations of immigrants have started in should be expanded and strengthened, the petition read.
