Manipur: Naga Body Bars Congress MP, Two Others from Public Platforms
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
An apex body of Nagas in Manipur has barred Congress MP Alfred Kanngam S. Arthur and two others from public platforms and holding any position or leadership in the Naga society for seven years.
The other two are S. Kho John and Allyson Abonmai, who contested the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency as independents. They finished third and fourth behind Mr Arthur and Kachui Timothy Zimik of Naga People’s Front (NPF).
Arthur and Zimik belong to the Tangkhul community while John is a Poumai and Abonmai a Liangmai.
The United Naga Council (UNC) said it took the action against the trio as they “purposively defied and failed to respect and honour to the position“ of the UNC in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and “their wilful attempt to challenge the Naga peoples’ position and its spirit of unity”.
The Naga body directed all its constituent units, subordinate or associate units and the Naga populace to uphold the resolution and enforce accordingly in their respective jurisdiction.
Outer Manipur: The notification has been slammed on social media platforms for not naming Zimik, who lost the Outer Manipur seat to Mr Arthur by 85,418 votes. The NPF’s Lorho S. Pfoze had won the seat in 2019.
It has also been seen as a reaction to the NPF’s failure in retaining Outer Manipur. The election in Outer Manipur, encompassing 28 Assembly segments, was spread across two phases on April 19 and April 26. The Kuki-Zo organisations abstained from participating in the polls to protest the government’s failure in checking the ongoing ethnic conflict but the campaign in Outer Manipur was marked by violence and attacks on the Congress candidate, allegedly by Naga extremists.
(The Hindu)
