A member of a suspected Kuki-Zo insurgent group aims a launcher at an Assam Rifles vehicle

New Delhi:

The Manipur assembly today unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to scrap the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with some 25 Kuki-Zo insurgent groups in the ethnic violence-hit state.

The deadline for extension of the SoO agreement ends today.

“… The central government should not extend SoO (agreement) with all those who have repeatedly violated the ground rules,” Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Manipur Legislative Assembly has passed a resolution unanimously and urge the Government of India to abrogate the Suspension of Operation (SOO) pact with all Kuki-Zo Militants. Central Government should not extend SOO against all those who have repeatedly violated the ground…

— Rajkumar Imo Singh (@imosingh) February 29, 2024

The Kuki-Zo insurgent groups signed the tripartite SoO agreement with the Centre and the Manipur government in 2008.

Every year, a joint monitoring group (JMG) reviews the SoO agreement and decides whether to end or renew it. Broadly, the SoO agreement says the insurgents are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly.