Guwahati, Jan 10, 2024, IANS

Imphal, Jan 10 (IANS): In wake of the recent clashes between security forces and suspected militants, Assam Rifles Director General Lt Gen P. C. Nair on Wednesday reviewed the prevailing situation in Moreh, along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur, and appealed to different communities to maintain the long-established harmony among them.

A defence spokesman said that Gen Nair visited Moreh on Wednesday in view of the present security situation and persistent attacks on the security forces and was briefed by sector commander Brig V. P. Yadav on the present conditions.

The Assam Rifles chief met leaders of civil society organisations, who also apprised him of the prevailing situation.

In his interaction with the civil society leaders, Lt Gen Nair noted that Moreh is a township that is very different from the other towns in Manipur because of its cosmopolitan nature.

People from the Kuki, Meitei, Naga, Tamil, Pangal (Muslim), Gorkha, Sikh and other communities have been residing for decades in peace and harmony in Moreh, which is just four km to the west of Myanmar’s largest border town Tamu and 110 km south of Imphal.

Since December 30, 10 Manipur Police commandos and a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper have been injured in different incidents of attacks by suspected Kuki militants at Moreh in Tengnoupal district.

The past eight months of strife, preceded by two years of Covid, has greatly affected the lives of the children and youth and their future is at stake and thus there is no other alternative but to shun violence, Gen Nair said.

He assured that all their grievances will be looked into and studied but it is for the people of Moreh particularly the women to actively act towards restoration of peace.

Sounding a note of caution, the Assam Rifles chief also asked all the civil society groups to tell those moving around with weapons that the central security forces shall retaliate in an appropriate manner, if provoked or fired upon.

It is in everybody’s interest to restore peace and thus everyone’s responsibility to work towards it, he said, adding that the Assam Rifles shall always live up to the sobriquet of “Friends of the North East” even in the most challenging circumstances.

The CSO leaders who attended the meeting were from the Hill Tribe Council, Kuki Students Organisation, Kuki Women's Union, Human Rights Moreh, Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal, Tamil Sangam, Gorkha Samaj Samiti, and the Manipur Muslims Council.

Moreh township that lies on the Indo-Myanmar border on the Indian side in Manipur has seen increased violence in the recent past. Assam Rifles DG’s visit in Moreh aimed to enhance coordination amongst CSOs and open channels of communication between the security forces and the society.