Imphal, March 27 Manipur's apex tribal body, the Indigenous Tribal Leader's Forum (ITLF) on Tuesday asked tribals belonging to the Kuki-Zomi community to "abstain from contesting" in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha (ST) seat but cast their votes.
It also asked the Kuki-Zo people and village volunteers not to comply with the state government’s orders to deposit their licensed arms ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
ITLF Chairman Pagin Haokip and Secretary Muan Tombing, in a joint statement, said: "As Indian citizens, we advise our community members to exercise their right to franchise by voting in the upcoming Lok Sabha election but abstain from contesting for the Outer Manipur Parliament seat."
They said that the decision was taken following consultation with constituent tribes.
The Congress has fielded former MLA Alfred Kanngam S. Arthur as its candidate, while the Naga People's Front (NPF) has nominated Kachui Timothy Zimik in the seat, reserved for the tribals. Both of them belong to the Tangkhul Naga community.
Arthur is a consensus candidate of the Congress-led 10-party alliance in Manipur while Zimik is a retired Indian Revenue Service officer. The ruling BJP already announced that they will support the NPF nominee.
The ITLF's direction on weapons came as the District Magistrates of Manipur's 16 districts, following the directions of the Election Commission, issued orders asking all licensed gun owners to deposit their weapons at the nearest police stations by this month to ensure no untoward incidents occur during the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
"The state government's attempt to view the current dispensation based solely on election-related matters and thus issuing orders for submission of weapons to arms license holders at jurisdictional police stations may not serve appropriately considering the plight and uncertainty we are facing. This will only invite more controversy and insecurity that will rightly offend the Kuki-Zo people," the apex tribal body said.
ITLF Chairman Haokip and Secretary Tombing, in the joint statement, said: "We need every available weapon to defend our ‘right to life’ and our land from the nefarious intent of the majority Meitei community, which is hell-bent on killing and driving us out of our homes."
Alleging that licensed guns that were submitted in 2023 have not been returned so far, the ITLF requested every Kuki-Zo man and woman, and village volunteers "should not comply with the perverse and hateful ideologies..".
During the ethnic violence, which broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year, violent mobs, attackers and various groups looted around 5,000 arms, including sophisticated weapons, and lakhs of ammunition from the armouries of the security forces in different districts. Several militant outfits both in the valley and in hilly areas are in possession of a large cache of arms and ammunition and occasionally engage in gun battles with the security forces.
A senior Manipur Police official had said that most of the looted arms and ammunition were recovered and massive searches and numerous efforts were on to recover more.
Of Manipur's two seats, voting would be held in the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency in the first phase of polling on April 19, and Outer Manipur would go to polls in two phases - April 19 and April 26.
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