The joint action committees and families of both Meisnam Khaba and Nongthombam Micheal killed by Kuki militants in Kadangband and Koutruk area have refused to accept the dead bodies with an ultimatum that the assailants should be booked within 48 hours.
JAC against Murder of Khaba have decided not to claim Khaba’s mortal remains till the Manipur government fulfils its demands while JAC against murder of Micheal have submitted a memorandum to the state government listing its demands.
The mortal remains of both Meisnam Khaba, 23 years old, of Sagoltongba Mamang Leikai and Nongthombam Micheal of Palace Compound are presently in RIMS mortuary.
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In light of the incident, a public meeting was conducted on Wednesday at Recent Higher Secondary School ground, Sagoltongba in Imphal West.
During the meeting, the gathering formed the JAC against Khaba’s murder while also taking an eight-point resolution in connection with the murder.
The resolutions include withdrawal of SoO with Kuki militants, deploying state forces in all peripheral regions of the valley, implementation of NRC, ex-gratia and government job for Khaba’s family and removal of 22 Assam Rifles from Manipur among others.
Representatives of various CSOs, clubs and Meira paibis along with political activist Maheshwar Thounaojam took part in the meeting.
The attendees put forth their concerns on the trajectory of the ongoing crisis in Manipur and emphasised the need for the central and state government to relook at the immigration issues in Manipur and properly enact safeguard measures for indigenous communities in Manipur.
Furthermore, the JAC cautioned that intense democratic agitations would follow if the demands in the resolution were not fulfilled within 48 hours.
Meanwhile, the Joint action committee against murder of N Michael submitted a memorandum to the chief minister.
Demanding that the state government must provide ex-gratia and a government job to a family member the memorandum asked it to apprehend those involved in the brutal murder and punish them as per the law of the land.
It said, as the state is not able to fully protect the life and property of its people and the people have come forward to defend their life and property, and as such the state must provide necessary training to the volunteers to perform their duties.
The memorandum mentioned, the chief minister had assured on January 29 that the responsibility of safeguarding life and property will be fully ensured by the state, but on the next day this incident happened where two had been murdered and three injured.
The area where this incident happened has always been under the attack by the Kuki militants and such places must be given priority for deployment of state forces or central security forces (CSF) which abide by the instructions of the state government, it said.
The memorandum demanded an inquiry into allegations that a certain CSF was aligning with the Kuki militants which allowed them to approach near the bunkers of the Meitei who were guarding the village.
Further, the final rites of the two who died at Koutruk will be performed near the site where the two had fallen and we would urge the government to erect a memorial at the place so that their sacrifices will be remembered in the years to come and also be a torch to inculcate future generation the need for patriotism for the state and the nation.
