Alleged Kuki armed miscreants vandalised and fired bullets at the residence of BJP spokesperson Michael Lamjathang Haokip, son of Lukholen Haokip of Phailien village under Churachandpur Police Station, Manipur on Sunday around 11 pm.
As per sources, the motive behind the attack appears to be linked with his participation as a panelist in a local TV channel, during which he expressed his view and opinions on the agenda Kuki supremacy and their propagandas.
It is learnt that the armed kuki miscreants reportedly barged at the residence of Michael Lamjathang Haokip and inquired about his whereabouts since he was not present at the time.
The miscreants started dismantling and torched household properties.
The armed miscreants also reportedly fired some rounds of bullets before leaving.
Our Churachandpur correspondent added that it was 10 miscreants who entered the residence located at Paniel Veng, which is adjacent to Koita Village.
The miscreants also burned a tire and left firing three blank rounds. They reportedly told his parents that it was their son’s work which led to the incident.
Soon after the incident, a senior police officer of Churachandpur district rushed to the scene and registered a case regarding the incident.
The Thadou Community International (TCI) on Sunday vehemently condemned the alleged attack on the family home of Thadou Students' leader Michael Lamjathang Haokip at Peniel village, Churachandpur, Manipur at around 10.30 pm on Saturday by unknown armed miscreants suspected to be Kukis and termed it as cowardly and barbaric.
The attack happened barely a few hours after Michael participated in a Manipur-based news TV panel discussion on the topic 'Kuki Supremacy and its Agenda', stated a release. Around 30 attackers allegedly fired several rounds and they also ablaze various properties inside the house, it stated.
It mentioned that right after the incident, a viral video surfaced on social media of a man showing a gun and a bullet and vowing to shoot dead Michael Lamjathang.
This is the second time his home has been allegedly attacked for being a Thadou leader, with the first attack with arson and gunshots by suspected armed Kuki militants on May 6, 2023, days after the violence broke in Churachandpur on May 3 last year, it asserted.
It further said that Michael reportedly escaped an assassination attempt in Churachandpur on April 28, 2023. It decried the attack on Michael Lamjathang and his family, and said that the same is an attack on the whole Thadou community and also an attack on civilization.
The release stated that Thadou experiences of human rights abuse perpetrated by Kuki supremacists is widespread and rampant but gone unnoticed and also cited examples.It further said that the violent attack was just another example of the Thadous being repeatedly forced to reject their identity and punished for failing to toe the line of the Kuki supremacist agenda.
It urged the government to take stern and immediate legal actions against the culprits involved in the attacks on Michael Lamjathang, with special attention to the role of the fake Thadou Tribe Council (TTC) and its operatives, among other individuals and groups who may be persons of interest in relation to the violent attacks.
It also called upon the Thadous to be steadfast to their values, to stand unitedly for their rights and seek justice through non-violence and appealed to all right-thinking people to stand with them.
