Manipur tribal bodies urge govt not to withdraw Assam Rifles from hill areas

Imphal: Many tribal organisations on Saturday demanded that the Assam Rifles not be withdrawn from the hill areas of Manipur after reports of the government deciding on a greater role for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the areas rocked by ethnic violence, replacing two battalions of the Assam Rifles in the hill districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi.

Highly placed official sources said that two battalions of the Assam Rifles will be moved from Manipur to Jammu and Kashmir to intensify the counter-terror operations there after a spate of terror attacks instigated by Pakistan.

The counter-insurgency trained Assam Rifles, which operates under Army officers, has been hugely deployed since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year.

The tribal organisations wrote separate letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and urged them not to withdraw the Assam Rifles from the hilly areas.

Copies of their letters were also given to Manipur Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Director General of Assam Rifles Lt Gen Vikas Lakhera, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka and Director General of Manipur Police Rajiv Singh and urged them to take the necessary steps in this regard.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of the Meitei community and a few other organisations have been demanding the replacement of the Assam Rifles by any other Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) while half a dozen Kuki-Hmar-Zo tribal organisations including the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), an apex body of tribals in Manipur, are strongly opposing the demand.

The ITLF in a statement on Saturday said: “India’s oldest paramilitary force Assam Rifles has the most in-depth knowledge and experience among central security forces in Manipur. It has a deep understanding of local geopolitics and how to deal with communities on the ground. This has interfered with the communal designs of the majority Meiteis and their attempt to wipe out minority Kuki-Zo tribes using state machinery.”

Both the COCOMI and Kuki-Hmar-Zo tribal organisations separately organised protest rallies during the past few days in support of their demands.

The other tribal organisations that are agitating against the withdrawal of the Assam Rifles from the tribal dominated areas include the World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council, Zo United, Kuki Students’ Organisation.

The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) has also vehemently opposed the withdrawal of the Assam Rifles from the buffer zones between the hills inhabited by the Kuki-Zo-Hmar community people and the valley, predominantly occupied by the Meitei community.

Noting that the Assam Rifles are considered a neutral central security force, the CoTU leaders claimed that Chief Minister N Biren Singh is instrumental in withdrawing the Assam Rifles from the tribal inhabited areas.

The tribal organisations have also been demanding the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in all 18 police stations in the valley areas inhabited by the Meiteis.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity recently declared an indefinite boycott of the Assam Rifles in the state.

In a statement COCOMI claimed that the people of the state have long had suspicions about the role of the Assam Rifles during the ethnic turmoil that began in May last year.

Earlier a group of 31 MLAs of the state demanded that the Union Home Minister replace the Assam Rifles with any other CAPF “who are more inclined towards promoting the unity of the state.”

IANS