Guwahati, Jan 10: Director General, Assam Rifles (DG AR) Lt Gen PC Nair visited Moreh on Wednesday in view of the escalated security situation and persistent attacks on security forces in the town located on the India-Myanmar border.
Moreh township in Manipur has seen increased violence since the last week of December 2023.
Official sources said that the director general’s visit was aimed at enhancing coordination among civil society groups and open channels of communication between the security forces and civil society organisations.
Lt General Nair was briefed on the current security situation in Moreh by Sector Commander Brig V.P Yadav.
Later, the DG AR met members of the civil society organisations (CSOs) such as Hill Tribe Council, Kuki Students Organisation, Kuki Women’s Union, Human Rights Moreh, Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal, Tamil Sangam, Gorkha Samaj Samiti and Manipur Muslims Council.
The director general listened to the issues of concern being faced by the groups.
“Moreh is a township that is very different from the other towns in Manipur because of its cosmopolitan nature. People from the Kuki, Meitei, Naga, Tamil, Pangal, Gorkha, Sikh and other communities have been residing for decades in peace and harmony. The past eight months of strife that was preceded by two years of the pandemic has greatly affected the lives of the children and youth,” Lt General Nair said.
“Their future is at stake and thus there is no other alternative but to shun violence,” the DG said.
He further stated that all their grievances would be looked into and studied. “But it is for the people of Moreh, particularly the women, to actively act towards restoration of peace,” he said.
Sounding a note of caution, he also asked the civil society groups to inform those moving around with weapons that the central security forces would retaliate in an appropriate manner if provoked or fired upon.
“It is in everybody’s interest to restore peace. Thus, everyone has a responsibility to work towards it,” the DG AR appealed.