Panelists discuss revocation of Manipur’s suspension of operations (SOO) agreement
New Delhi:
A global coalition of Manipur’s Meitei community has called for an end to the controversial ceasefire with more than two dozen Kuki-Zo rebel groups amid ethnic conflict between the hill-dominated Kuki-Zo tribes and the valley-majority Meitei.
The Kuki-Zo insurgent group, which signed a tripartite suspension of operations (SOO) agreement with the Center and the Manipur government in 2008, hides under the SOO security net “to act covertly against the peace and security of India”. The Meitei Alliance, a group whose members are Meitei civil society organizations across the world, including the UK, US and Europe, said in a statement on Saturday.
Every year, a Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) reviews the SOO agreement and decides whether to terminate or renew it. The next review is on 29 February. Broadly speaking, the SOO agreement states that rebels will be required to live in designated camps and that their weapons will be kept in closed storage, subject to regular monitoring.
In March 2023, the Government of Manipur announced that it had withdrawn from the SoO agreement with the Kuki National Army (KNA), and the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA). However, only the JMG can take decisions on such matters, which indicates that the state government’s move was only a request to the JMG, sources said.
More than two dozen Kuki-Zo rebel groups fall under two umbrella groups – the Kuki National Organization (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF). Both of them have signed the SoO agreement representing others.
“Suspending operations with any armed group is, technically, to restore law and order and ensure security in the country. But when it is used to hide the privatization of violence, it Along with security, it also creates danger.” lives and property of citizens,” Professor Bimol Akoijam of the Center for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said in a statement today.
The Meitei Alliance also published a booklet claiming that there were examples of violations of the ground rules of the SOO Agreement by Kuki-Zo rebels.
“The Kuki-Zo armed groups have always maintained their larger long-term political goal of creating a sovereign territory called Zelen-Gam. They continue to systematically build their strength to achieve priority goals achievable within the constitution. India,” Meitei Alliance in ‘Ghost of Peace: Why not abrogate SOO agreements with Kuki armed groups to prevent destabilization of India?’ Said in the booklet titled.
“In the long run, the Kuki armed groups in the India-Myanmar border region may switch allegiances and become a completely different, globally powerful expansionist force, becoming a perennial threat to India’s internal security and more comprehensive geo-strategic interests.” Can become a proxy for. This came days after submitting a memorandum to Home Minister Amit Shah with a request to cancel the SOO agreement.
Mr Akoijam, who recently published a report on the media’s shortcomings in reporting the Manipur issue, called for disarming all armed groups to end the “privatisation of violence” and ensuring that “only the state has a monopoly on the lawful use of physical force”.
“I have already indicated that there has already been some discussion among scholars and activists that the privatization of violence is unacceptable. Only the state should have a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force. That’s what the state is for. Now, if you Let’s privatize it (violence), that’s not what has been done… Has SOO become like a mask to hide the truth? That’s something people have to ask,” Mr Akoizam told reporters in Delhi on Saturday. Said to.
‘Amend, review SOO agreement, not scrap it’: Retired Army officer
Major MD Ali Shah (Retd), who was part of the panel discussion on the SOO agreement in Delhi on Saturday, stressed on not putting pressure on the Central and State governments to cancel the agreement and instead review it and take a decision. Recommended. Corrective action to ensure adherence to ground rules by insurgent groups.
“My point of view is a little different. I am sure you have the maturity to understand this… The moment any agreement is taken back, it will not be good. I am personally not in favor of ending SOO. There There can be a review, there is no doubt about it. There can be amendments, there can be no doubt about that. But terminating the agreement will not solve the problem,” Major Shah told reporters.
Another former army officer, Lieutenant General Konsam Himalaya Singh (retd), also pointed out the scope for improvement in the SOO agreement. “…only following ground rules could have prevented the current situation from worsening. Rules were violated in many ways, although only Manipur government records can confirm this. Even now, reforms like biometric identification “The number of prisoners will be reduced, the number of camps will be reduced and ground rules will be strictly enforced,” Lt Gen Singh said in a statement.
“But the violence has spread too much. Immediate and forceful action is now necessary to stop it, including by all illegal armed groups,” said Lt Gen Singh, the first officer from the north-east to become a lieutenant general in the Indian Army. He was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal after the Kargil War in 1999, when he commanded the 27th Battalion of the Rajput Regiment in the high-altitude battlefield Siachen.
Charges against Meitei rebels who signed peace deal
Ethnic violence has been ongoing in Manipur for nine months over disagreements over land, resources, political representation and affirmative action policies.
Both sides are accusing each other of atrocities. The Kuki-Zo tribes say their “village defense volunteers” are repelling attacks by armed groups from the valley, who come into the hills across the “buffer zone” with clear intentions. Both call themselves “Village Defense Volunteers”, this definition of belligerents has become the most controversial in Manipur as there is nothing stopping these “volunteers” from killing people under the insurance provided “in self defence”.
However, members of the UNLF, Manipur’s oldest valley-based armed group, which signed a tripartite peace accord with the central and state government in November 2023 – the first Meitei insurgent group to do so – reportedly resorted to violence against both security forces. Engaged in activities. And the public, news agency PTI reported on February 18.
The recent sighting of rebels from the Kha Pambei faction of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) in Moirangpurel, Tumuhong and Itham in Manipur has raised concerns, with reports indicating that they are setting up camps in these areas, PTI reported. Were doing reconnaissance to establish.
Sources who visited the area, requesting anonymity, said ‘UNLF’ was written on the gates of houses of the Kuki-Zo tribes in parts of the Imphal Valley, including Khel village in the Langol foothills.
While the Kuki-Zo tribes have accused the Meiteis of demolishing and occupying their vacant buildings in and around the Imphal Valley, the Meiteis have accused the Meiteis of leveling and erasing entire tracts of their community in the hill district of Churachandpur .
One similarity between the “Village Defense Volunteers” from both sides is that they appear well armed and equipped with modern war gear. Security forces have often recovered Russian-origin AKs and American-origin M series assault rifles, and gun models commonly used by both the junta’s forces and pro-democracy rebels in neighboring Myanmar.
More than 180 people have been killed in the violence and thousands have been internally displaced.
