Manipur: Naga Groups Take To Streets, Demand SoO Pact Scrapping & Nemcha Kipgen's Removal

Imphal: Hundreds of people took out a rally in Manipur's Ukhrul district on Thursday seeking an end to the ethnic strife in the state, abrogation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact with militant outfits and removal of Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen.

During the 'People's Rally' in Ukhrul district headquarters, demonstrators, which included women and the elderly, held placards that read "Abrogate SoO agreement, declare Kuki militants as terrorists" and "Remove Nemcha Kipgen as deputy chief minister". Kipgen is from the Kuki community.

SoO pact is a tripartite agreement signed between the Centre, the Manipur government and dozens of Kuki and Zomi militant outfits.

They also raised demands of "resolution of the political crisis in Manipur, removal of Assam Rifles from Naga-dominated areas and stopping of proxy war in the state".

The demonstrators raised slogans against Kuki militant groups.

The rally was organised by the Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) along with Tangkhul frontal organisations under the aegis of the United Naga Council (UNC).

A similar rally was also taken out in adjoining Kamjong district.

More than 50 people have been killed and dozens of houses burnt across Tamenglong, Noney, Kamjong, Ukhrul and Kangpokpi districts since ethnic clashes broke out between Kuki and Naga communities in February this year.

The state had earlier witnessed ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis, in which over 300 people were killed, while 49 remained missing, and thousands were rendered homeless.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)