Manipur Naga body bars Congress MP, two others from public platforms

United Naga Council bars Congress MP and two others from leadership roles for seven years.

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 with immediate effect.

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).

In a public notification on June 13, 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”.

They “are hereby debarred from public platforms, and holding any position or leadership in the Naga society for a period of seven years with immediate effect,” the notification signed by H. James Hau, the information and publicity secretary of the UNC read.

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.

Mr Arthur and Mr Zimik belong to the Tangkhul community while Mr John is a Poumai and Mr Abonmai a Liangmai.

The notification has been slammed on social media platforms for not naming Mr 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.