Meitei organisations on Sunday decided to take their agitation against the "Chin-Kuki narco terrorists" from Manipur to the national capital, with a sit-in demonstration planned at Jantar Mantar on August 6.
This was decided after a week-long meeting between the Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a forum of Meitei organisations in Manipur, and the Delhi Meitei Coordination Committee (DMCC) in the national capital.
Announcing the decision, COCOMI in a statement on Sunday said that the Delhi demonstration would try to highlight why the Centre is reluctant to take action against the "Chin-Kuki narco terrorists" and press against the demand for a "separate administration" for the Kukis in Manipur. Abrogation of the suspension of operations agreement with the Kuki insurgent groups and replacing Assam Rifles with a "sincere force" to guard the Indo-Myanmar border are the two major demands.
The statement comes a day after COCOMI organised a massive rally in Imphal in which, it claimed, over two lakh people took part. The influential organisation made the same demands during the rally on Saturday.
"Delhi Chanakya must know that the threat to Manipur's integrity is a threat against the national interest of India and India's Unity in Diversity. India should stand against all forms of terrorism, be it religious or narco-terrorism. Manipur Hills can't be another Golden Triangle," the COCOMI statement said.
The DMCC comprises the Delhi Meetei Forum, Delhi Meetei, Delhi Heritage Society, International Meetei Organization, World Meetei Council, Delhi, Liklam Ngakpa, Eramdam Manipur and United Kakching Students’ Delhi.
The clashes between sections of majority Meitei and the Kuki tribes have left nearly 150 dead and over 60,000 displaced since May 3.
Meiteis claim that "illegal Kuki Chin migrants" and militants from neighbouring Myanmar were involved in poppy cultivation in the Kuki-dominated hills of Manipur and the Kuki insurgents in suspension of operation agreement with the government are also involved. They said Kuki groups started attacking the Meiteis after the government started a drive to clear the forest land encroached by the "illegal migrants" and launched a drive against poppy cultivation.
Kuki organisations, on the other hand, have rejected the allegations and said Meitei groups and the Manipur government are trying to tag all Kukis as "illegal migrants" and are involved in "ethnic cleansing" of the Kukis in Manipur.