Muivah is a terrorist, says rival Naga group
May 19th, 2010 - 4:15 pm ICT by IANSBy Syed Zarir Hussain
Dimapur (Nagaland), May 19 (IANS) A frontline Naga separatist group Wednesday accused rival militant leader Thuingaleng Muivah of being a terrorist who was trying to stoke communal clashes by pledging to visit his birthplace in Manipur.
“Muivah is a terrorist and his terror designs were reflected when he used hundreds of innocent Naga civilians as a human shield to try to enter Manipur and visit his birthplace. Muivah has no business to curb the human rights of the people of Manipur,” Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior leader of the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), told IANS.
The decision by Muivah, leader of the rival NSCN faction, to visit his ancestral village in Manipur’s Ukhrul district led to bloody clashes, with three Naga protesters killed in firing by Manipur police May 6.
The Manipur government has banned Muivah’s visit saying it would incite communal tension in the state.
The deadlock over Muivah’s visit has led to several Naga groups enforcing an indefinite economic blockade with hundreds of trucks carrying essentials stranded in adjoining Nagaland. Protesters have laid a siege on National Highway 39 - the main lifeline to Manipur.
This has triggered an acute food crisis in Manipur with the state forced to airlift supplies of essentials and medicines - such was the situation that even hospitals were compelled to stop routine surgeries due to dearth of oxygen cylinders.
Landlocked Manipur depends on supplies from outside the region, with trucks from the rest of India carrying essentials passing through Nagaland.
“We warn Naga civil society groups not to hold Manipur to ransom by blocking trucks from entering Manipur via Nagaland. You cannot do that as it violates all basic norms of human rights,” Mulatonu said.
The rival NSCN factions are fighting a bitter turf war for territorial supremacy in Nagaland since they split in 1988. The internecine war has claimed more than 500 lives in the past five years.
“We want that the Meteis of Manipur and the Nagas cohabit without any animosity,” Mulatonu said.
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- Manipur hit by shortage of essentials, life saving drugs - May 09, 2010
- Pillai in Nagaland to help resolve Manipur blockade - May 12, 2010
- Pillai meets Manipur chief minister over economic blockade (Lead) - May 11, 2010
- CPI-M seeks central intervention in Manipur over Naga blockade - May 18, 2010
- Rebel Naga group ousts its chief - Jun 08, 2011
- 60 days of blockade: Manipur's food, medicine crises deepen - Jun 09, 2010
- Naga blockade pushes Manipur into economic crisis - May 11, 2010
- Centre extends ceasefire agreement with NSCN-K - May 04, 2010
- New Delhi's talks with Muivah fail, Manipur blockade continues - May 12, 2010
- Fresh round of talks with NSCN-IM Tuesday in Nagaland - May 31, 2010
- Tension continues in Manipur - May 07, 2010
- 70 injured as cops clash with Muivah supporters - May 06, 2010
- Muivah defers Manipur visit after supporters clash with cops (Lead) - May 06, 2010
- Manipur not to allow Naga leader Muivah's visit - May 02, 2010
Tags: airlift, ancestral village, bloody clashes, civil society groups, communal clashes, communal tension, deadlock, dearth, economic blockade, even hospitals, food crisis, human shield, internecine, militant leader, national socialist council of nagaland, nscn, oxygen cylinders, separatist group, turf war, ukhrul