Welcoming the Manipur Naga MLAs coming forward with proposals for peace, the former president of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has, however, said that Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh “must be stopped from conducting mayhem in Manipur” if one really wanted to bring peaceful solution.
In a press release, K Therie alleged that Manipur CM was responsible for the loss of nearly 100 lives and the suffering of tens of thousands of civilians for no fault of theirs. Therie said Biren Singh has lost command over Kukis and has also lost command and respect of all sensible citizens. Former NPCC chief said that Biren Singh’s continuation would only worsen the situation. “If not, you are a party to crimes against humanity,” Therie said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the Naga MLAs meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, Therie said their demand “not to touch Hill areas in the event of arranging separate Administration for Kukis”, conveyed ‘no objection’ to creation of separate administration, which he claimed implies disintegration of Manipur state. “This is because as per the Constitution, there cannot be separate administration without UT or State,” Therie said.
Further, he said that Naga MLAs’ message was silent about the demand for tribal status by Meiteis. “It means the delegates approve the granting of Scheduled Tribe status to Meiteis,” he claimed. Therie said the third issue was that Nagas of Manipur would be within Manipur State, if not relocated in the ongoing peace process. “I stand corrected if my analysis on the statement are wrong,” he said.
Stating that Manipur peoples’ pain was “our pain”, he said everyone was concerned and wanted restoration of peace.
Therie hoped that leaders and thinkers sit across the tables and realign the discrepancies if any.
“Protect each other’s interests. It may be Meites, Kukis or Nagas, the truth is, all are inseparable neighbours,” he added.
Although it may not be at the cost of inherent rights and future, it is also our responsibility to be positive to each other. He said investigation teams were cannot resolve the political issues as they were meant to bring criminals to book. Therefore, Therie said it was the duty of political leaders to rise up together, put heads together to resolve the problem.
