The Union Home Ministry intervened to secure the release of 21 Tangkhul Naga civilians held hostage in Manipur's Ukhrul district, following tensions between Kuki and Naga communities.
Heavily armed militants attacked villages in Manipur's Kamjong district near the India-Myanmar border, torching houses and forcing residents to flee. The attack targeted Tangkhul Naga villages, with allegations pointing to Myanmar-based militant groups.
Three people have been killed in two separate incidents of firing between armed groups of rival tribal communities in Manipur's Ukhrul district, officials said.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will investigate the killing of two civilians in Manipur's Ukhrul district, following an ambush by suspected militants. The incident occurred a day after the Chief Minister appealed for peace in the region.
The same technologies that enable State forces to monitor and strike insurgent camps are now being mirrored by non-State actors with increasing sophistication.
Several Kuki groups in Manipur have warned their community legislators against participating in government formation, leading to protests and calls for shutdowns. The move comes after months of ethnic violence in the state.
According to a statement by the Eastern Command, a column of the Indian Army operating along Indo-Myanmar border was fired upon by unidentified insurgents of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang about 4.45 am.
Records stretching back to 1947 suggest a consistent strategy by Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), of using terrorism as a state policy against India.
The Centre on Monday decided to extend the ban imposed on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang [NSCN-K)] along with all its factions, wings and front organisations for five more years due to its involvement in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
The infighting in Naga rebel group, National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang has led to its Myanmar-based chairman S S Khaplang expelling Khole Konyak from the post of commander-in-chief of the self-styled 'Naga Army' with immediate effect.
'It is in the interest of China and Pakistan to give a bad name to the Indian Army and remove AFSPA 'completely' from the north east.' 'Hopefully, better sense will prevail and the ground realities of the army countering insurgency in the north east acknowledged,' asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Major Khathing was the first man to hoist the Indian flag in Tawang. He also brought Bum La under Indian control.
The solution to Manipur's problems lies in the government giving concessions to Meitis in jobs and education and to accept autonomy for the tribal dominated areas inhibited by the Kukis, suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Assam Rifles personnel vacated a makeshift camp in Manipur's Kamjong district on Sunday, a day after it was vandalized by a mob protesting alleged harassment and restrictions on timber transportation. An understanding was reached between the two sides after a meeting involving civil society groups and Assam Rifles officials. The incident occurred amid ongoing ethnic violence in the state.
Refuting the Army's contention that the incident was a result of mistaken identity, he said, "The ambush site was barely few metres away from the coal mining site and the villages are nearby. How could they lay an ambush so close to civilian residences?"
The Eastern Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief also said India is giving shelter to anyone from Myanmar seeking refuge, including common villagers, army or police, in Mizoram and Manipur, but not armed cadres of militant groups of drug traffickers.
'NSCN-IM leader Muivah warns that the NSCN-IM has come very close to an honourable solution to the peace process with the Government of India, but if it does not materialise, then the Nagas will go away so far that it would be difficult to bring them back to the negotiating table easily,' note Sandeep Pandey and Meera Sanghamitra.
This is the fourth incident since the commencement of the conflict in Manipur wherein soldiers while on leave, on duty or their relatives have been targeted for nefarious interests by inimical elements.
'There are 7,000 guns which are in the hands of the armed militia of the Kuki and Meitei communities.'
The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the operation on Tuesday after hearing the differing viewpoints presented by the home and defence ministries on the necessity of such an operation against the Issac-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the NSCN. The CCS has backed the home ministry view that the Army needs to intervene and clear the two districts of armed militants from both the rival factions
'The visit of the honourable PM with the workable strategy towards conflict resolution will help greatly.' 'But visiting the state without concrete proposals may not bring the desired outcome at this stage.'
Khaplang died following a cardiac arrest.
The funeral of 12 Kuki-Zo youths, including 10 killed in a gunfight with the CRPF in Jiribam district, will take place in Churachandpur on Thursday. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) has called for a complete shutdown in Churachandpur in honour of the deceased men. The funeral will be attended by Mizoram Chief Minister's Adviser H Ginzalala.
'They only bring pieces. Dialogue is the only way forward.' 'We should get people who have influence to bring the community leaders to sit across the table and talk.' 'Otherwise, our adversaries across the borders will add fuel to the fire. Let's not give them a chance.'
'The issue of the larger homeland of Nagalim, the dream of the Nagas to hold sway over swathes of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, is just that, a dream.' 'The NSCN has been told categorically that the government is not going to concede on this issue.'
Discussions and deliberations need to be held on the purpose of imposing AFSPA and how to revoke it, Rio said during the public funeral of the 14 daily wage earners of a coal mine, who were shot dead by security forces on Saturday at Oting village on their way home from work.
Terming such 'unwarranted interference' detrimental to the timely response by security forces, the Army's Spears Corps shared a video on Twitter late on Monday of some such incidents.
The Centre on Monday extended the ceasefire agreements with three insurgent groups of Nagaland for one more year till April next year.
'If the NSCN-IM is cold shoulderd, the chances are that it will slip back into insurgency,' caution Sandeep Pandey, Meera Sanghamitra and Babloo Loitongbam.
Firing between security forces and armed men has been reported from Pallel area of Manipur's Tengnoupal district since early hours of Friday, officials said.
The ongoing vicious game between Delhi and the so-called 'separatist' militias has severely blighted the Nagas' life and gutted their dignity, says Ravindra Narayan Ravi
The appointment of Col (retired) Nectar Sanjenbam for five years followed Union Home Minister Amit Shah statement last month that Kuki people started entering Manipur from Myanmar illegally following a military crackdown on militants.
"Keeping in view the sensitivity of the use of kinetic force against a large irate mob and envisaged casualties due to such action, the officer on the ground made a considerate decision to hand over all 12 cadres to the local leader. Own columns lifted the cordon and left the area with weapons and war-like stores, recovered from insurgents," it read.
"Based on this consensus, the process of disengagement is almost complete. Our efforts will be to take the matter beyond disengagement; but for that, we will have to wait a little longer," he added.
The ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur has claimed 258 lives since May last year, the state government's Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh said on Friday.
The Army and Assam Rifles were requisitioned in the night, and along with the state police, the forces arrested the violence by the morning, the spokesperson said.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended till September 15 its order asking the Manipur police not to take any coercive steps against four members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI) in connection with two FIRs lodged against them for alleged offences, including promoting enmity between two communities.
Curfew was relaxed in three Imphal Valley districts on Tuesday and the suspension on broadband internet lifted with conditions, even as Chief Minister N Biren Singh blamed the Congress for the present crisis in Manipur and NDA MLAs called for a "mass operation" against militants responsible for the killing of six women and children. Peaceful rallies were also staged across the state, with hundreds taking to the streets with empty coffins in Churachandpur district, demanding justice for those killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Jiribam, and members of various civil society organisations bringing out a procession in Imphal West district to protest the reimposition of AFSPA in parts of the state.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Due to the imposition of AFSPA, our people have for so long suffered untold miseries and discrimination at the hands of security forces'
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