New Delhi: Highlighting the menace of narco-terrorism in Manipur, the International Peace and Social Advancement (IPSA) and other civil society organisations based in Manipur Friday urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to facilitate communication with the Government of India to end the danger before it reaches a far-reaching consequence in future.
Delivering a presentation in person on the General Debate Item-5 of the 54th UNHRC Session in Geneva with the President of the session in the chair, Khuraijam Athouba, vice-president of IPSA, and also spokesperson of COCOMI, said the indigenous communities of Manipur stand on the brink of a dire conflict, initiated by cross-border narco-terrorist groups.
“This conflict has resulted in a tragic toll of over 200 lives lost and destruction of approximately 5,000 homes, leaving 60,000 people homeless,” Athouba said while drawing the attention of the Council.
While expressing hopes that the council’s collective efforts would help alleviate the suffering of the indigenous people of Manipur, Athouba urged the Rights body to facilitate communication with the Government of India to take urgent initiatives by relevant mandates to address the gross violations of human rights in the 5-month-old violence that started on May 3 this year.
The pressing issue, Athouba said, of illegal immigration and the widespread illicit cultivation of opium poppies, covering an area exceeding 10s of thousand acres in the hills of Indo-Myanmar borderland, particularly in Manipur should be prioritised given the distressing situation.
Athouba said that the present menace of narco-terrorism and the emerging new golden triangle in the region could have far-reaching consequences, especially on the longstanding ethnic harmony, economic stability and ecological well-being of the Indigenous people in Manipur and Western South East Asia (WSEA) region.
He also called for a thorough review of the policy of Suspension of Operations (SoO), a tripartite truce that the Centre and state governments signed with the Kuki armed militants as they are suspected of involvement in the narcoterrorist activities in the region including the ongoing violence in Manipur.
Athouba also submitted a factual report on Chin-Kuki Narco-Terrorism and the emerging new Golden Triangle and its relevance to the current situation in Manipur to various relevant Rapporteurs including the UN Mandated Offices.
