Drone attacks after Nationwide rally Pattern in the offensives
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A well thought out strategy and in the process one gets the distinct feeling that the Kuki militants have managed to send out the message that they have planned everything right down to the minutest of details. This cannot be a coincidence. One day after staging the ‘Nationwide rally’ and in the process irking the Nagas of Senapati no end, Kuki militants launched a co-ordinated attack at Koutruk and Kadangband killing a young woman and inflicting injuries on at least 6 people, read Meitei folks. The attack went beyond the understanding of well armed militants raining bullets on the civilian Meitei population for it involved the use of weaponised drones, perhaps a lesson learnt from what is happening in neighbouring Myanmar where drones are being used extensively to drop bombs and take pictures of strategic locations. Many also see the offensives against the Meiteis as a sort of a reply to the claim of Chief Minister N Biren that peace and normalcy would be restored in six months time. This claim was made on August 29 during a chat with PTI Videos with the same information coming out the following day. One wonders how the Government would respond to the latest offensives, but here again one is reminded of the ‘You look after the valley, I will look after the Hills’ instruction given to the Chief Minister by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a meeting at New Delhi sometime last year when the clash was at its peak. What were the Sentinels of the Hills doing when the attack was launched so clinically and with so much precision ? A question which ought to be directed to the Union Home Minister. No answer is expected and not surprisingly false charges and fantastic stories have been cooked up by some Kuki leaders and posted on the social media, with some publications having gone for it like fish taking to water. And even as Imphal is trying to come face to face with the fresh offensives from the Kuki militants, social media is awash with information that many places such as Sekmai, Phayeng etc, have also come under attack. Multiple attacks at different places and this would not have been possible without a plan and the design that has been at play since the evening of May 3, 2023 should be clear to everyone. Launch deadly attacks at the ground here and put to work its bunch of key board warriors to tell a story which suits their agenda with many sections of mainland media more than ready to do its share of giving wings to the false narratives that have been spun out with so much dexterity.
Given the reality here, it is not surprising to see so many questioning the role of Delhi in the flame that has engulfed Manipur since the evening of May 3, 2023. Apart from the stoic indifference of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite the strong verbal support that has come from the State BJP led by Chief Minister N Biren, what is disconcerting is the ‘state of limbo in which some Central security forces, such as the Assam Rifles have worked themselves into.’ This state of limbo must be understood in the context of the progress that the Kukis have made from the status of ‘village volunteers’ to one armed and equipped with bomb carrying drones. This is where one is constrained to ask, why the Centre or Delhi seems to be only fixated with the arms looted from police stations and State armouries in the valley but have never ever questioned from where the guns used by the Kukis have come from ? This obviously makes one question the status of the Suspension of Operation pact. Delhi’s ‘politics of silence’ on an issue as sensitive as this is simply unacceptable and this has only added more substance to the ‘Delhi machination’ theory which has gained currency with quite a large number of people. Such a state of affairs cannot be good for the country and the people and as long as the state of clash continues, the role of Delhi will continue to be questioned. This cannot be healthy and the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister should come to the point that Manipur is not just a gateway to South East Asia, but is a living, breathing entity, with a history that dates back 2000 years.
Given the reality here, it is not surprising to see so many questioning the role of Delhi in the flame that has engulfed Manipur since the evening of May 3, 2023. Apart from the stoic indifference of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite the strong verbal support that has come from the State BJP led by Chief Minister N Biren, what is disconcerting is the ‘state of limbo in which some Central security forces, such as the Assam Rifles have worked themselves into.’ This state of limbo must be understood in the context of the progress that the Kukis have made from the status of ‘village volunteers’ to one armed and equipped with bomb carrying drones. This is where one is constrained to ask, why the Centre or Delhi seems to be only fixated with the arms looted from police stations and State armouries in the valley but have never ever questioned from where the guns used by the Kukis have come from ? This obviously makes one question the status of the Suspension of Operation pact. Delhi’s ‘politics of silence’ on an issue as sensitive as this is simply unacceptable and this has only added more substance to the ‘Delhi machination’ theory which has gained currency with quite a large number of people. Such a state of affairs cannot be good for the country and the people and as long as the state of clash continues, the role of Delhi will continue to be questioned. This cannot be healthy and the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister should come to the point that Manipur is not just a gateway to South East Asia, but is a living, breathing entity, with a history that dates back 2000 years.