Imphal, May 12: The proscribed United National Liberation Front (UNLF) today accused the army of disturbing peace in Sajik Tampak in Chandel district of Manipur since it launched counter-insurgency operations there and vowed to “fight to the last”. Reacting to the army’s declaration of continuing its operations, the outfit in a statement said, “The Indian occupational force says they are here to stay. We say we are here to fight to the last.”
The statement, signed by the assistant publicity secretary of the outfit’s central committee, accused the army of scripting fake encounters, executions and enforced disappearances.
It said the army disturbed peace in Sajik Tampak by burning 50 houses and displacing 500 people.
“Will they burn down more houses to give more security,” the statement asked.
The statement accused the army personnel of committing gross human rights violations in Manipur and raping women.
The army has been terrorising local people and eliminating the insurgents, the statement said.
A full-fledged mountain brigade of the army was opened at Chakpikarong in Chandel district last month to flush out rebels.
Four army personnel were killed on April 19 in an encounter at Sajik Tampak. However, there have been no reports of major encounters after that.
The deputy commissioner of the district in a report to chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh a few days ago, confirmed that more than 700 villagers fled their homes and are taking shelter in nearby villages after the army operations, a source said.
The UNLF denied the army’s charge that militants had confiscated rations from the public for their stock and development work had taken a back seat in the area for militant activities.
It was a “cheap propaganda” by the army to tarnish the image of the outfits, the statement said.
“We never touch anything that belongs to the people. We buy whatever we need, and pay for whatever we take from the people,” the statement added.
“We even distribute our rations to the needy people. As for the development, it is only after the Manipur People’s Liberation Front forces entered Sajik area that the people began to get some facilities, though limited, like medical care, water supply and even electricity in some villages. That was a collective effort of the local people and the insurgents,” it said.
Admitting that the army had up taken some development measures in the area, the outfit said these projects were “incidental” and not “intended” and were taken up as the army wanted public support in its counter-insurgency operations.