COCOMI reacts to Torbung attack, faults KZC leader for justifying terrorism

A scathing complaint has been filed by The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity to the Director General or Police, Manipur regarding an incident involving firing and bombing at Torbung, located in the district of Bishnupur, on December sixteenth, where The Coordination Committee finds that terror acts have been justified by the leadership of The Kuki Zo Council.
In the lawsuit, the convenor of COCOMI, Khuraijam Athouba, stated that about eight thirty in the evening of the sixteenth of December, there was indiscriminate firing and bombing in the civil areas of Torbung carried out by armed men believed to be militants. The convenor stated that this act placed the inhabitants in a state of fear of being attacked and threatened the viability of their properties. The convenor saw this activity as a continued act of armed aggression against the inhabitants, which made the State’s security mechanisms faulty.
“In particular,” it added, “it was also alleged in the complaint that the severity of this incident was heightened by a statement made in public attributed to one Ginza Vualzong, a member of the leadership of the Kuki-Zo Council, in which it allegedly sought to justify and justify this attack, at the same time making statements which were described in COCOMI’s complaint as inflammatory and unsubstantiated. These acts, in the view of this Organisation, amount to moral support for violence and seek to embolden armed groups and increasingly destabilise the State.”
COCOMI has also raised the alarm about the constant public assertion concerning the existence of a “buffer zone” supposedly disseminated by the Kuki-Zo Council and other quarters. The group accused the “buffer zone” concept of being indiscriminately disseminated without the remotest possibility of confirmation by the concerned government agencies, sparking off fear, confusion, and inter-communal hostility. The body called for “immediate clarification by the concerned government agencies through the Press” if the “buffer zone” does not exist. Otherwise, COCOMI called for “legal action against the dissemination of such dangerous information irrespective of whether it originated from the Kuki-Zo or other quarters.”
Citing various provisions in the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Arms Act, and Explosive Substances Act, COCOMI declared: “The Torbung attack as well as the justification for it lead to severe criminal as well as anti-national charges.” There was also concern raised by COCOMI regarding the groups operating with impunity in Manipur, the leadership of these groups condoning violence in Manipur, as well as fallacious claims being spread without scrutiny.
The demands of the organisation included immediate registration of the FIRs, handover of the case to a senior-level or special team, firm legal action against persons who justify and incite violence, enhancement of security in and around Torbung, and an action taken report.
“Indeed, if we fail to speak out, we will only go on to embolden violence in Manipur,” COCOMI warned, “Because the normalisation of armed attacks and their justification is a direct threat to our civilian security, our constitutional order, and our peace in Manipur.”