NESO slams PM Modi, Amit Shah for failure' in handling Manipur crisis

Guwahati: The North East Students’ Organization (Neso), the apex student body of the northeastern states , staged a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for their failure in handling the Manipur crisis even after six months.

Coming down heavily on the central government the NESO chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said, “Why could the Prime Minister not manage time to come to Manipur in the last six months when the north-eastern state continued to see unrest? All northeastern states are united. The people of Manipur are not alone in this hour of crisis.”

Asking to restore permanent peace in Manipur the students body organised sit-in all the state headquarters of north-eastern states including Imphal said, “The government should not politicise this Manipur crisis. There should be no buffer zone dividing Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur. All should be allowed to move freely.”

The assistant general secretary of Neso Wangjam Sanatomba said that the state police and central forces should control armed volunteers on all sides and recover the arms snatched from security forces. “Supply of arms from across Myanmar must be stopped to bring peace in Manipur,” he said.

The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) under the aegis of North East Students' Organisation (NESO) held a demonstration for ‘Permanent Peace in Manipur’ while protesting against the alleged failure of the Government of India (GoI) to resolve the over six months long violent conflict between the Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur.

Demonstrators organised outside Raj Bhavan in Kohima on Thursday shouted slogans and displayed placards some of which read, “The North-East resent the failure of the government of India,” “We demand permanent peace in Manipur,” “GoI your inaction shows your attitude toward the North-East,” “Stop playing politics over human lives,” etc.

The NSF vice president Mteisuding said that they gathered to demonstrate its resentment against the ‘inadequacy’ of the GoI in ending the cycle of violence, and its incapability to take necessary steps to promote reconciliation.

He said, “we believe that it is our moral responsibility to raise our voices against this strife and to advocate for a peaceful resolution to the many months of bloodshed and violence.”

Meanwhile the Catholic archdiocese of Thrissur, Kerala has also criticized BJP leaders and Prime Minister Modi for their handling of the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur. In an article titled "Marakkilla Manipur" published in its magazine "Catholica Sabha", the archdiocese accused the PM of neglecting the state during its turmoil.