Women Vendor’s body, Lukmai Sellup, on Sunday contended Manipur Chief Minister N Biren’s recent statement on unification of CSOs in Manipur and appealed to him to claim the reins as the commander in chief of the people instead of putting the blame on the CSOs.
“All the CSOs and people of the state will automatically fall in line if the chief minister boldly stepped up to lead the people and state out of this misery but sadly, that is not the case,” Lukmai Sellup stated.
Speaking to the media at the Manipur Press Club, Lukmai Sellup general secretary Asem Nirmala maintained that the chief minister need not worry about the unity and integrity of people but instead should reclaim his position as the leader of the people.
“So far, it is the authorities that have made a mockery of the people’s demands. We demanded an assembly session which the authorities turned into a puppet show, citing unfounded reasons for the disruption of the sitting,” she said.
She pointed out that the assembly sitting would have been conducted peacefully if the authorities had mustered up the courage to take a firm decision regarding the crisis.
On the other hand, she expressed disappointment over former MP Mary Kom’s letter to the union home minister and stated that such a narrow-minded statement by a public figure was uncalled for during these trying times.
“Even though there have been numerous claims about Kom being neutral in the crisis, the recent Kuki attacks at Naranseina reportedly started from a Kom village. Adding her statement to the mix could create confusion and division between communities,” she said.
She also informed that Lukmai Sellup would support the Black September observance and stated that the objective for Lukmai Sellup’s further course of actions would be targeted for review of the Merger Agreement 1949.
