Representatives of the armed radical Meitei outfit Arambai Tenggol (AT) on Tuesday (February 25, 2025) met Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and submitted a memorandum, seeking border fencing, implementation of the NRC with 1951 as cut-off, and “no arrest or legal action” against village volunteers, including members of AT.
This comes within days of a call given by Governor Bhalla, asking all civilians to surrender their weapons in the interest of bringing peace and normalcy back to the ethnic strife-hit State.
The Raj Bhavan in Manipur did not immediately issue any public statement on the meeting on Tuesday (February 25, 2025).
In the memorandum, the AT sought the abrogation of the Suspension of Operations Pact with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups, withdrawal of ST status from “illegal immigrants” and their deportation, and to “reinstate” ST status for the Meitei community, among other demands.
On Tuesday (February 25, 2025), the SpearCorps of the Indian Army said that the Army, Assam Rifles, Manipur Police and administration interacted with relevant stakeholders to encourage the surrendering of arms in its bid to de-militarise the civilian population.
It said, “On 25 Feb 25, the initiative resulted in surrendering of 48 weapons in valley and hill districts of Imphal West, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur in #Manipur,” in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday (February 25, 2025) once again targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the ongoing crisis in Manipur, with MP and senior Leader Jairam Ramesh questioning why the PM had left “nearby Manipur” out of his schedule to visit Guwahati for the Advantage Assam 2.0 Summit.
Mr. Ramesh said in a post on X, “The PM has yet again deeply disappointed the people of Manipur… It is all the more perplexing, given that the State is now under President’s Rule.”
This comes days after the Delhi Meitei Coordinating Committee, a civil society organisation of Meitei people in Delhi, had sent an open invite to PM Modi, asking him specifically to make a stop in Manipur during his scheduled visit to Guwahati in Assam for the investment summit.
“When will Mr. Modi reach out directly to the people of Manipur who have gone through so much distress, pain, agony and suffering over the past twenty-one months – all after they had given the BJP and its allies such a decisive mandate almost exactly three years back? They wait and wait and wait…,” Mr. Ramesh wrote on X.
On Tuesday (February 25, 2025), while the DMCC held a press conference to express their outrage over allegations that Assam Rifles was purportedly “facilitating the transportation of Kuki militants” under the Suspension of Operation Pact with the Centre, the Kuki-Zo Council, a coalition of civil society organisations held a joint meeting in Churachandpur, re-affirming the community’s goal to fight for a separate administration.
