Tangkhul Naga groups demand withdrawal of Assam Rifles from Naga areas, allege bias in Manipur

Tangkhul Naga organisations have renewed their demand for the withdrawal of Assam Rifles from Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur, alleging that the central force has failed to maintain neutrality in handling the law-and-order situation amid the prolonged ethnic conflict in the state.

A mass rally was organised in Ukhrul town on Wednesday by the Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) and Tangkhul frontal organisations under the aegis of the United Naga Council (UNC). Following the rally, the organisations submitted a memorandum containing 11 demands to the Government of India through the Ukhrul district administration.

Addressing a press conference at the TNL office, Tangkhul Shanao Long president Thingreiphi Lunghar Woshi said the ongoing conflict had severely affected Naga communities and accused the authorities of failing to address the underlying issues.

She said the crisis should be recognised as a historical problem rooted in what she described as illegal Kuki immigration and the disparity between the hill and valley regions of Manipur.

Woshi alleged that the prolonged crisis was partly due to Assam Rifles personnel assisting armed Kuki groups in attacks on Naga communities. She pointed to the presence of nine Assam Rifles checkposts in the border areas of Kamjong district, questioning how attacks on Naga villages continued despite the security deployment.

She named Choro, Thana, Pillong, Ningchou and Skipe among the border villages that had allegedly come under attack by armed Kuki militants. She also referred to the attack on Chassad Police Station, which she said was located close to an Assam Rifles post.

Claiming that the organisations had evidence of alleged links between Assam Rifles personnel and Kuki armed groups, Woshi said attacks in border areas had repeatedly taken place days after the force conducted patrols in those locations. She called for the withdrawal of Assam Rifles from Naga-inhabited areas, describing it as essential to ending the crisis.

TNL president Sword Vashum said the memorandum contained 11 demands and urged the Centre not to treat it as another routine representation but to act on the demands at the earliest.

Explaining why the memorandum was addressed only to the Government of India, Vashum alleged that the Manipur government had become a “lame duck” and was unable to discharge its constitutional responsibilities, claiming that it was functioning under pressure from the Centre.

Among the key demands are an end to militarisation of Naga areas and the withdrawal of Assam Rifles from those regions; an end to what the organisations described as proxy warfare using Kuki militants against the people of Manipur, particularly the Nagas; identification and deportation of alleged illegal Kuki immigrants and refugees to their countries of origin; and revocation of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with Kuki armed groups.

The memorandum also calls for the Centre to declare the Kuki National Army (KNA), Kuki National Organisation (KNO), Kuki National Front-Presidential (KNF-P) and their affiliated SoO groups as terrorist organisations.

The allegations against Assam Rifles and the demands concerning Kuki groups represent the position of the Tangkhul Naga organisations. The force and the groups named in the memorandum have not been independently established to have engaged in the alleged activities.