State govt carrying out ethnic cleansing: ITLF

AIZAWL: Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognised tribes in Manipur's Churachandpur, on Monday demanded immediate imposition of President's rule in Manipur.
The ITLF also demanded sacking of chief minister N Biren Singh-led Manipur government.
A press release issued by the media and publicity department of the ITLF, sent to TOI, alleged that the Manipur government along with the state forces have been carrying out ethnic cleansing continuously since May 3, 2023 against the tribal people in different tribal villages wherein tribal villages were torched and many innocent tribals murdered.
"We strongly condemn the Manipur state government forces' actions and appeal to the central government to deploy more forces in our villages to protect our innocent tribal villagers whose lives are in danger," the press release said.
While underground militant groups, which have signed Suspension of Operations (SoO) with the ministry of home affairs and the Manipur government are in their designated camps, the poor tribal villagers defending their villages with just a handful of single-barrel guns and a few licensed guns gave up their weapons to the Army leaving them helpless at the hands of the state-led machinery, the ITLF claimed.
"Unsatisfied with the ongoing ethnic killings and cleansing, the security forces at present have even started combing operations in tribal villages after allowing looting of arms from 7 Manipur Rifles (MR), 8 IRB, 3 IRB, Manipur Police Training College, and 9 MR," it statement said, adding that the injuries suffered by the village volunteers indicated the use of looted sophisticated weapons.