Imphal, Jul 3 (PTI) Four prominent civil society organisations from Manipur on Thursday submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging the Centre to scrap the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with militant groups, alleging that the pact has compromised the safety and security of all communities.
The memorandum was jointly submitted by the Meitei Alliance, Thadou Inpi Manipur, Foothills Naga Coordination Committee, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum Manipur.
“We urge the government of India not to arbitrarily renew flawed SoO agreements with armed militant groups, who had persistently violated SoO ground rules and whose armed militants initiated violence in Manipur on May 3, 2023, in Churachandpur and set fire to houses in Torbung and Kanvai,” the memorandum stated.
“These armed groups protected by SoO agreements are gravely undermining safety and security of all communities in the state of Manipur” they said.
They added, “if SoO agreements were to be renewed, then the structure and framework of the agreements should be holistically reviewed for effective and efficient implementation.” “Armed militants who committed acts of violence should be prosecuted according to the law and if any signatories or members of Kuki National Organisation (KNO) or United People’s Front (UPF) are found to be associated directly or indirectly, they should not be protected under the SoO,” the organisations demanded. PTI COR MNB
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