SIPHRO

Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO) on 14th February 2006 interacted with media correspondents at David’s Kitchen in Aizawl, Mizoram (India) after visiting Tipaimukh areas in Churachandpur district, Manipur where there were reports of human rights violations by the the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP).

The Press statement
“There is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one’s native land” – Euripides

The ongoing military operations in Manipur since 2004 in Chandel district has resulted in the flight of the valley-based militants to the Tipaimukh sub-division of Churachandpur district that is inhabited by the Hmar people and its Sinlung kindred tribes. This part of the district has been cut off, neglected and marginalized by the Government of Manipur since very long time. The vacuum left unheeded and unattended by the state gave the fleeing militants the opportunity to make their shelter in the Hmar inhabited areas. This has resulted in the militants’ annexation and occupation of the once peaceful villages. Unfortunately, the militants’ occupation and control of the areas escalated to destruct the fabric of life for the peaceful villagers. The armed militants seize the villages, followed by their reign of terror. As a result, gross human rights violations and immense internal displacement of thousands of villagers to different parts of Mizoram follows. The poor villagers are paralysed from pursuing their normal secured life. The militants have been indulging in planting landmines in the areas, beating and torturing the villagers, killing and maiming innocent civilians, taxing the villagers of their meager earnings, using forceful means to gain fooding and shelter. Besides doing all these, the militants did not spare women and children too. It has been recently unearthed that the militants have also been raping women of which most of them were teenagers. In their dwell in fear, the villagers are still fleeing their homes and villages seeking for shelter.

In the face of all this, state actors ought to come to the aid of the internally displaced persons as well as those villagers who are still trapped fear in their villages. The Government of Manipur as well as the Central Government is responsible for the ongoing problem as it is a spillover of its counter-insurgency military operations. Providing military bases cannot be the solution and long-term policy for the affected areas. The presence of the Government has to be in the form of looking into the welfare and development of the people in distress as well as providing all the required security for the villagers to survive and prosper as human beings. The Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO) strongly condemns the Government of Manipur for its failure to provide peace, security and governance in the Hmar inhabited areas. It also condemns the actors who are responsible for causing gross human rights violations to the thousands of innocent villagers. SIPHRO demands that:

i) The Government of Manipur makes its presence urgently in the Tipaimukh areas by running the state institutions and machineries in the interest of the people.

ii) The Government of Manipur provides adequate human measures for the thousands of its refugees who are facing immense problems in their everyday life.

iii) The Government of Manipur should start rehabilitation and resettlement process as the present refugees had missed their annual jhumming period.

iv) The Government of Manipur should immediately start trauma counseling for the villagers who had lived in terror for a number of months.

v) The Government of Manipur restores peace, security, and governance in Tipaimukh sub-division.

vi) The Government of Manipur as well as the Government of Mizoram should work together to promote durable and long-term solution for the refugees.