Tribal student bodies withdraw non-cooperation movement against CRPF

Imphal, Nov 21 The non-cooperation movement by four tribal student organisations in Manipur against the CRPF has been withdrawn with immediate effect, tribal organisations announced here on Thursday night.

The Kuki Students’ Organisation, Zo Students Federation, Hmar Students Association and two other organisations in a joint statement said that the non-cooperation movement was withdrawn with immediate effect after high-level discussions between the CRPF officials and the student bodies.

“During a meeting with the Director General of CRPF (Anish Dayal Singh) and other CRPF officials provided a full assurance that they would not engage in any actions that may be considered sacrilegious or disrespectful to the community,” the joint statement said.

It said that the CRPF has expressed their sincere commitment to the safety of the public and is committed to fostering a respectful and cordial relationship with the tribal people going forward.

They have requested our cooperation in this process, and we look forward to a positive, collaborative future, the statement said.

It said: “We hope that this would pave the way for a better understanding and cooperation between the CRPF and the local communities, and we remain committed to fostering peace and mutual respect.”

The student bodies and other tribal organisations started non-cooperation after an encounter with the CRPF and the militants in Jiribam district on November 11 leading to the death of 10 suspected Kuki militants.

Though the Manipur police said that the ten slain people were Kuki militants, all the tribal organisations including the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), an apex body of tribals in Manipur, claimed that they were “Village Volunteers”.

The ITLF earlier said that they had decided that the last rites of 10 Village Volunteers would not be performed till their postmortem examination reports were handed over to the families.

After the post-mortem of all ten bodies was conducted in Assam’s Silchar Medical College and Hospital, the bodies were airlifted on November 16 to Churachandpur, a Kuki-Zo-Hmar inhabited district.