The People’s Progressive Alliance Manipur (PPAM) has reacted to the 48-hour ultimatum issued by the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), questioning what it described as a “selective” demand for the restoration of free movement along National and Inter-State Highways while asserting that constitutional rights and human rights must be upheld equally for all communities.
Speaking to Imphal Times, PPAM Convenor MC Meetei said CoTU’s demand for unrestricted movement was justified in principle, but questioned why similar concerns had not been voiced when members of the Meitei community had been unable to travel through several stretches of National Highways passing through Kuki-dominated areas since the outbreak of the Manipur violence in May 2023.
He said that while CoTU had sought immediate government intervention to ensure unhindered movement through Kangpokpi district, the issue of free movement should not be viewed from the perspective of a single community. According to him, if freedom of movement is a constitutional right, it must be guaranteed equally to every citizen regardless of ethnicity.
MC Meetei alleged that Meitei civilians had continued to face restrictions on movement along certain highways due to the prevailing security situation, effectively denying them their constitutional right to free movement. He argued that if blocking highways and restricting movement amounted to a violation of human rights today, the same principle should apply to all communities that had experienced similar hardships since the Manipur violence began.
He maintained that human rights could not be invoked selectively and that their legitimacy depended on equal application. “Human rights lose their moral force when they are defended for one community but ignored for another facing the same circumstances,” he said.
The PPAM convenor further stated that National Highways are public property and that no organisation or community has the authority to regulate or restrict access to them. He asserted that it was the responsibility of both the Central and State governments to ensure safe and unrestricted movement for all citizens and to enforce the rule of law uniformly across Manipur.
Expressing concern over what he described as a continuing failure of governance, MC Meetei said the inability of the authorities to guarantee free movement for every citizen reflected a broader breakdown in the enforcement of constitutional rights.
He further said that advocacy for justice and human rights would command greater credibility if it acknowledged the rights and sufferings of every community rather than focusing on one group alone. Lasting peace in Manipur, he added, could only be achieved when constitutional guarantees are implemented without discrimination and the rights of all communities are respected equally.
MC Meetei urged the authorities to restore free and secure movement throughout the state for every citizen and reiterated that constitutional rights, including the right to free movement, should be protected uniformly without regard to ethnic identity.