There should be containment of Kuki militants both those who are in Suspension of Operations (SoO) and those who are not in SoO in Manipur by the Government of India as the first step to resolve the ongoing ten months conflict in the state echoed Rajkumar Meghen the former Chairman of United Liberation Front of Manipur (UNLF) while speaking to this correspondent in Imphal airport today afternoon.

According to him continuous infiltration of illegal migrants is taking place in Manipur on the pretext of Myanmar Army operations against the civilian population inside that country, thousands of refugees are pouring into Manipur of Kuki, Rohingiyas, and Chin communities and are taking shelter, particularly in Kamjon district of Manipur as par his ground reports informed the former UNLF leader.

Unless the conflict is resolved satisfactorily, this influx will continue and this can create more problems. Questioning the role of central security forces which is now stated to be almost two lacs forces stationed in Manipur, the blockade of two National Highways (Jiribam-Imphal) in Keithelmandi and (Dimapur-Imphal) in Kangkokpi, Meghen asks, why this could not be lifted by the forces? Meiteis are not very happy about these, he echoed. 

‘It is difficult to wake up a person who is not sleeping ‘ quipped Meghen on the issue of the Government of India not waking up to the fact that illegal infiltration is not going to be the problem of Manipur only but the whole of North East India particularly Barak Valley region of Assam, Mizoram, and Tripura will be the most affected if not rest of India. He suggests that as Kukis initiated the violence, they should be raided so that Meiteis can be reassured by the follow-up messages. 

Meghan had warned a long time back that the Government of India would be trying to contain revolutionary forces, particularly from the Meitei community on the cover of containing the conflict and he once again stated that by now the Government must be rethinking its strategy as if the conflict is dragged on much further it would be counter-productive once the ‘point of no return’ is reached.

He further echoed that as the democratic process has failed, as it should have, the minds of people now have become indifferent and a section of the society may declare a ‘boycott’ of the upcoming general election particularly those who were the victims of the conflict and now staying in relief camps in Imphal valley and their relatives.  This election will be a mixed reaction and people are losing faith in the present system, he thinks.

As a final solution, Meghen reiterated that those Kuki who had been settled here around the 1840s by Britishers have been a natural citizen by now but those who have come after 1951 should be identified and repatriated. 

We are now working towards coexistence between all the communities who have been residing here in Manipur for centuries and bringing peace to the state, Meghen made a determined statement.