IMPHAL, MAY 28 (NNN): The Liangmai Naga Council (LNC) has strongly condemned the firing incident of Saturday night in the Kanglatongbi Liangmai area by gunmen.
The LNC and the Liangmai as a whole community expressed their deep concern over the situation, it said.
In a statement, the LNC said the Liangmai people as a community are peace loving people who have kept away all forms of violence. However, the Liangmai community is greatly perturbed and compelled to raise alarms against the deliberate gross violation of peace and tranquility in our village at Namdilong Kanglatongbi by the act of unprovoked firing incident that occurred on the night of May 27, 2023 night, the LNC stated. Using automatic and sophisticated weapons whereby infants, children, women, aged citizens and sick people have been traumatised by such threats of danger, it added.
The LNC said it is uncalled for and unfortunate that the village has been used as a battleground for violence between conflicting groups. “The fear and distraught that has been inflicted upon the innocent villagers will continue to haunt them throughout their lives. Infants, children, aged citizens and sick people are frightened and woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of firing arms,” the Liangmai body stated.
The LNC then said the Liangmai people have been working as the ambassador of peace from day one of the ongoing violent conflict. “The Liangmai people have been giving free passages to every commuter irrespective of their background. However, to our great disappointment, our Good Samaritan act is seen as an act of weakness by a certain conflicting community, and is taking undue advantage over our silence and good nature,” it added.
The Liangmai Naga Council said it is extremely disturbed to know that commuters at Leimakhong Konsakhul IVR are often stopped, checked and frisked, often causing inconvenience to our commuters.
The LNC also said the same incidents are happening in IT Road which are uncalled for. The Liangmai Naga Council then asked the particular conflicting community “if this is what you would pay us back for our sympathy, and treating you as Good Samaritans?”.
The Liangmai body said if such “barbaric acts” continue to occur in the future the Liangmai people will be compelled to stop giving free passage to anyone passing by “our villages”. The Liangmai Naga Council condemned in strongest terms to such “acts of hooliganism, barbarism that are threatening innocent lives with sophisticated weapons, disturbing peaceful habitation of our people”.
The LNC further said no communities should take the good will approach of the Liangmai people for granted. “No communities should take undue advantage of our peace loving nature. The Liangmai Naga Council assured that if any community tries to test our peaceful nature with their barbaric nature then the Liangmai people will not remain a silent spectator. We expect good will from you as we have treated you well in your hard times. Such an act of using our ancestral land to be a battleground, Stopping peaceful commuters on the way, checking and frisking for no reason should be stopped henceforth,” it added.
The LNC then said, with a desire for peaceful co existence the Liangmai body urged the “warring groups” to shun the path of war and take up peace, also urge the concerned authorities, both the Central and the state to restore immediate peace in the state.
