Manipur simmers, Centre rushes MoS for Home to soothe nerves

Surrounded by protective guns of the Army and para-military forces from all sides, the Union minister talked peace. ‘‘I am here on behalf of the Government of India. I am here for peace,’’ said Jaiswal as the Army convoy whisked him away to Raj Bhavan.

Even as the minister talked peace, the body of Th. Manorama lay in the morgue of the Imphal Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, 10 days after she was found dead. Her relatives have refused to accept the body.

Manorama — a suspected member of the People’s Liberation Army — was picked up from her home on July 11. Her bullet-ridden body was found hours later. Her relatives and civil rights organisations are demanding punishment of the guilty and removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. ‘‘If the authorities try to cremate it after the mandatory wait for claimants, Imphal is certain to go up in flames once again,’’ said a police official posted near the Raj Bhavan.

Tension is palpable in the city and the simmering anger can be felt.

I. Hemachandra, an MLA from the Opposition Federal Party of Manipur, tried to storm into the Raj Bhavan defying the curfew demanding removal of the ‘‘Black Act.’’ When stopped by the security forces, he lay on the road in protest but was bundled off in a police jeep along with eight of his supporters.

At the Raj Bhavan, it was the usual scenario of senior officials lining up under heavy security cover and holding meetings. There was hardly any interaction with the agitators who have already formed a People’s Action Committee with 30-odd civil society organisations.

Two inquiries are underway—one by the Army and the other by a judicial committee set up by the government. Meanwhile, Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh, sensing more trouble, has hinted at the possibility of withdrawing the Armed Forces Special Power’s Act from certain areas on an experimental basis.

But there is no firm commitment from the government till now, allowing the situation to drift out of control.