Correspondent
IMPHAL, MAY 19: Hope is fading among the leaders of Liangmai (Naga) tribe for the survival of six members of the tribe who were still missing after they were taken hostage by suspected Kuki militants in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district.
After freeing 12 women out of 18 people abducted by the suspected Kuki militants from Leilon Vaiphei in Kangpokpi district on May 13, the whereabouts of six men remains untraceable.
The whereabouts of the six men remain clueless though security forces said they were on a rescue operation even after seven days since they were abducted.
Regarding the matter, a delegation of Liangmai Naga Council (LNC) and the Liangmai Naga Women Union (LNWU) on Tuesday called on chief minister Y Khemchand Singh in Imphal.
During the audience, the joint delegation demanded the immediate release of six missing men, including a pastor, who were abducted by unknown armed men on May 13 last from Kangpokpi district, the chief minister’s secretariat said, in a release.
“A Liangmai tribal leader told the chief minister that even if the six men of Konsakhul village who were taken hostage by suspected armed men are dead, their dead bodies should be handed over to their respective families to enable them perform the last rites,” the release added.
The tribal leaders also demanded the chief minister to deploy state police forces in the vulnerable Liangmai villages in Kangpokpi district.
Singh informed the delegation that the state police and CRPF personnel were conducting combing operations in suspected areas to trace the six missing men and appealed for calm at this grave juncture.
The chief minister conveyed to them that the state government was making all out efforts to subside the tense situation and bring peace in the areas.
He appealed to all communities to shun violence and help the government in bringing peace and normalcy.
The delegation also submitted a joint memorandum of the Liangmai Naga Council, Manipur (LNC), Liangmai Pui Naga Ruangdi, Manipur (LPNR) and the Liangmai Naga Katimai Ruangdi, Manipur (LNKR) to the Chief Minister highlighting their grievances.
On the other hand, marking the commencement of their broker peace mission, a ten-member delegation of the Manipur Baptist Convention, Council of Baptist Churches in North East India, Asia Pacific Baptist Federation and Baptist World Alliance held a meeting with leaders of the United Naga Council, the Naga People’s Organisation and other civil society groups at the UNC office in Senapati district on Tuesday.
Reports said that the deliberation of the meeting focused on the prevailing tensions between two tribal communities (Naga and Kuki) triggered by the hostage drama following the killing of three Thadou church leaders in Kangpokpi district on May 13 last.
After the meeting, the church leaders stressed for the unconditional release of hostages from both sides on humanitarian grounds and to ease the tensions.
Notably, the church delegation had earlier met chief minister Y Khemchand Singh in Imphal on Monday and volunteered to broker peace between the communities.
The chief minister appreciated the peace initiative undertaken by the church leaders.
Before visiting Senapati district, the delegation reportedly visited bereaved families of the three church leaders killed in the recent ambush at their residences at Keithelmanbi and Damdei village in Kangpokpi district and offered condolences.