The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) has once again demonstrated its commitment to promoting peace and unity among different communities in the state of Manipur.
According to CoTU, it has safely released two individuals from the valley district around 10am on 12 December 2023. The duo was identified as Lata Laishram from Sekmaijin and Mohammad Hussian alias Ningthem from Kwakta Moirang Kendra. They had reportedly crossed the buffer zone on the midnight of the previous day, 11 December in an auto rickshaw bearing registration number AS10C7922.
The move by CoTU came as a gesture of goodwill and a call for the state administration to put an end to the ‘war of hatred’ that has been plaguing the state.
According to Ng Lun Kipgen, the spokesperson of COTU, the committee urged the government under the leadership of chief minister N Biren Singh to stop the ‘war of hatred’, adding that the two individuals were allowed to return to their homesteads unharmed as a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Kuki-Zo community.
Kipgen emphasized that wars are fought on battlefields between armed men, not with innocent civilians.
He also stated that the Kuki-Zo community has always maintained civility and respect for the rule of law, whether in times of war or peace. This, he believed, is what sets the Kuki-Zo community apart and makes them a unique community.
The chairman of CoTU, Thanglen Kipgen, along with the Secretary, Lamminlun Singsit, and other executive members handed over the two trespassers to the 22nd Assam Rifles and the Kangpokpi Police.
In recent months, some parts of the state have seen an outbreak of communal tensions and conflicts, leading to an atmosphere of fear and mistrust among different communities.
Meanwhile, media reports have said that a Meitei woman and a Meitei Pangal man were rescued by troops of the 22 Assam Rifles after being detained by the CoTU women wing at Gamgiphai in the Kangpokpi district. The two individuals, identified as Md Hussain Ahmed Ali (51) of Kwakta, Bishnupur and Laishram Lata (45) w/o late Aken of Sekmaijin, were being detained by the CoTU women wing at Gamgiphai.
The reports said that the AR CO and the troops persuaded the CoTU women wing to hand over the duo to them. After securing their release, the two individuals were handed over to the Sekmai police station on Tuesday.
