Khwairamband rises in protest

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 22 : Expressing outrage over the killing of three Meitei woodcutters at Khongbal Sunurok Uyok by Kuki militants, women vendors of Khwairamband Keithel staged a protest demonstration and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Y Khemchand, Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen and Rajya Sabha MP A Sharda Devi.
Today, a sit-in protest was held at Khwairamband Keithel by ceasing work for the day to protest the Government's failure to protect lives.
Later, the women vendors took out a protest march in the Keithel area denouncing the Sunurok Uyok incident by raising slogans demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Rajya Sabha MP.
They also demanded abrogation of the Suspension of Operation (SoO) pact between the Government and Kuki armed groups and cessation of the alleged proxy war waged by the Government of India against the indigenous people of the State.
Speaking to the media, Khwairamband Nupi Keithel Sinpham Amasung Saktam Kanba Lup secretary Thingujam Rani claimed that the Centre and the State Government have not taken any action against Kuki armed groups who have been unleashing all sorts of atrocities against the Meeteis and the Nagas since May 3, 2023.
She further alleged that the Government of India has been conspiring to wipe out the indigenous people of Manipur.
The Chief Minister has been giving a false impression to the people that normalcy has been restored in Manipur simply because he had visited the hill districts with hundreds of security personnel, she asserted.
Rani said that the Chief Minister is not only unable to protect lives but is also oblivious to what has been happening in the State.
She further said that most of the people who have lost their lives amid the crisis in Manipur are from poor families.
Claiming that Khemchand is a Chief Minister merely in name and that the work of the State Government is overseen by Nemcha Kipgen, she urged the Chief Minister to resign on moral grounds.
Rani said that hundreds of protests have been staged and thousands of memorandums might have been submitted to the Government to resolve the crisis, but no concrete action has been taken so far.
The Government has disarmed the Meetei volunteers, but the Kuki militants continue to roam freely fully armed and attack people with impunity, she claimed.
Even as the Kuki militants continue to attack the indigenous people, the Government is busy preparing to organise the Sangai Festival, she claimed, appealing to one and all to boycott the festival.