Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Following a meeting with key political leaders and officials in Imphal over the situation in Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met various civil society groups from the Meitei community in the state capital. Thereafter, he is scheduled travel to Churachandpur to meet representatives of the Kuki community, sources said. He is also likely to visit hospitals there to meet the injured in recent clashes between the two communities.
Shah is on a four-day visit to Manipur to review the security situation in the state and bring warring Kukis and Meiteis together to resolve the turmoil that has affected Manipur since May 3. He arrived in Imphal late on Monday night and immediately held a meeting with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, senior members of his Cabinet and key security establishment officers. He also met Governor Anusuiya Uikey.
Sources said it was decided during the meeting with state and central officials that the priority of the administration should be to restore law and order and then carry out relief operations. For this, sources said, it has been decided to let security forces take necessary action to disarm groups that have armed themselves with state armoury guns.
Meanwhile, the state administration with the Centre’s help will have to work out a way to ensure the uninterrupted supply of essential items to Manipur. Sources said due to a blockade by various groups of Meiteis and Kukis of national highways, the supply of food and fuel into the state, particularly Imphal, has been severely disrupted and prices have gone through the roof.
It was also decided to give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of the deceased with a 50:50 ratio of contribution from the state and the Centre. Sources said a proposal to provide jobs to those among the kin of the deceased is also on the table.
On Tuesday morning, Shah met Imphal-based women vendors of the Ima market, who have also held protests during the ongoing turmoil in the state.
Sources said Shah may also meet some of the 10 dissenting MLAs from the Kuki community who have given a memorandum to the Centre demanding a “separate administration”, although this has not been fixed yet.
Sources said the situation in Manipur continues to remain tense with sporadic violence being reported from various corners, although no casualties have been reported yet on Tuesday.
Sources in the security establishment said the fact that many were armed with weapons, mostly “looted” from armouries in Imphal, was making it difficult to quell the violence. “In most cases, the arms have not been looted but rather handed over. People of a specific community in the administration want to help their brethren in this conflict situation,” said an officer, who is currently in Manipur.
While Chief Minister Singh on Sunday blamed Kuki militants for the continuing violence, these sources said gun-toting miscreants, from both the Kuki and Meitei communities, had clashed with security forces over the past few days. Former CRPF DG Kuldiep Singh, who was appointed security advisor to the Manipur government in the wake of the May 3 violence, also said the militants could not be identified as belonging to Kuki SoO groups – groups that have signed the Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement with the government.
While there have been sporadic incidents of shooting, vandalism and arson over the past few weeks, particularly in the foothill areas where the Meitei-dominated Valley meets Kuki-Zomi-dominated hills, separate instances of firing upon civilians and clashes between militants and security forces were reported on Sunday. Two persons, including a policeman, were reported dead on Sunday; a PTI report said three more persons succumbed to their injuries on Monday.
While at least 1,000 weapons and 10,000 rounds of ammunition were reported to have been “looted” from armouries in Imphal by some Meitei groups in the initial days of the violence, 1,000 more weapons were allegedly “looted” by these groups on May 27-28.
Earlier, some Kuki groups were also alleged to have looted weapons from police stations in Churachandpur. Officials also indicated that some weapons were provided by Kuki SoO groups.
The administration has recovered only about 500 weapons so far. “With tension rising, the groups are not ready to surrender their weapons anymore, and the administration does not want to use excessive force to retrieve them. Hopefully, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit and talks with both Kukis and Meiteis, the situation will improve,” said a Manipur officer.
On Sunday, CM Singh had blamed Kuki militants for violence in the Valley and said 40 Kuki “terrorists” had been killed so far. He had said the fight was between “armed Kuki militants”, which are allegedly under SoO, and the security forces.
But sources in the security establishment denied any operation to target Kuki militants specifically. They said armed miscreants belonging to both communities were engaged in skirmishes in the areas abutting the boundary between Meitei-dominated Imphal valley and tribal-dominated hill districts since May 3.
