CSOs form united front to fight for integrity

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Oct 21: Major civil society organisations of the State namely; AMUCO, CCSK, HERICOUN, LIPUL and UCM have jointly formed a Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI).
Formation of the new committee and its immediate course of action were announced by UCM president and COCOMI coordinator Sunil Karam at a press meet held at New Checkon office of CCSK this evening.
As reported in media, a solution to the 22 years old political dialogue between GoI and NSCN-IM may be signed by the end of the current month.
As there is a nagging suspicion that the final solution may disintegrate or pave way for disintegration of Manipur, the five CSOs joined together and formed the coordination committee to take up preemptive measures collectively, Sunil Karam said.
The final solution must not touch the integrity of Manipur or its territorial boundary. No community based arrangement  would be tolerated and the final solution must not go against the collective wish of the people of Manipur and all these standpoints have been repeatedly apprised to the Government of India, he said.
The same points were highlighted before Prime Minister Narendra Modi when a joint delegation of AMUCO, CCSK and UCM met him in 2017.
The Prime Minister told the delegation that the territorial integrity of Manipur would not be affected, all stake holders would be consulted before a final solution is worked out and one should trust only official statements regarding the peace talk and its solution, Sunil recalled.
However, there is no indication of consulting any stake holder till date even though October 31 is just 10 days away.
Assuming what Interlocutor RN Ravi stated in media as official, COCOMI would launch mass civil movements from tomorrow, he conveyed.
It would be wise on the part of the Government of India to disclose the details of the Framework Agreement and consult all stake holders in order to explore a solution which would be acceptable to all, he asserted.
Manipur should not be affected by the final agreement in any manner. Even if the final agreement contains anything about Manipur, it should be about ushering in peace and development for all the communities of the State, Sunil said.
He then urged the Government of India to retract its position within the next 10 days if it has any intention to dole out certain concessions to the Naga militants which would have direct or indirect impacts on Manipur. 
The State Government, after taking due note of the public apprehension and anxiety, must adopt a firm decision and work collectively with the people, said the COCOMI coordinator.   
As for the mass civil movements which would be launched from tomorrow, they would be carried out at any strategic place without prior announcement in media, he said.   
COCOMI assistant coordinators Ph Nando Luwang (AMUCO president), Jeetendra Ningomba (CCSK president), Longjam Ratankumar (HERICOUN president) and LIPUL representative S Rajendrakumar were also present at the press meet.
LIPUL president Somorendro Thokchom is another coordinator of the committee.
A team of COCOMI later set a meeting with Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy who arrived here today on a two-day visit to the State.
It is said that the memorandum submitted by AMUCO, CCSK and UCM to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017 would be re-submitted to G Kishan Reddy as a reminder.   
On the other hand, an emergency public meeting on the Naga peace talk was held today at Keishampat Leimajam Leikai under the aegis of the UCM.
The meeting resolved that the people of Manipur would stand united and fight collectively against any threat to the integrity of Manipur.