Expressing their deep concern over the filing of FIRs against Kuki scholars and academics, a leading tribal body of the community in Manipur has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to withdraw the cases registered against the tribal intellectuals.
An influential tribal body in Manipur on Monday reimposed indefinite blockade on two vital National Highways after accusing the rival community for disrupting supplies of essential commodities in the tribal dominated areas.
CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said without disarmament of the cadres of all groups, the Manipur crisis would not be resolved and also asked the BJP government to start talks with the warring Kuki and Meitei communities for resolving ethnic strife.
Various political parties and Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in Manipur on Saturday told the visiting CPI-M delegation that "due to the far reaching conspiracies of the BJP-RSS, the ethnic violence erupted in the state".
A four-member delegation of the CPI-M, led by the party's General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, arrived in trouble-torn Manipur on Friday for a three-day state visit. Upon their arrival, the delegation met the displaced people at the relief camps in Churachandpur and Moirang.
Prominent Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh on Friday urged the Central government not to hold any talks with the Kuki militants as they according to him violated the ground rules of Suspension of Operations (SoO) and were part of the ethnic violence in the state.
While confirming the incident, Ukhrul District Superintendent of Police Ningsem Vashum said the fatalities occurred following an exchange of fire between the two rival groups in the tribal-dominated Thowai village
The tribals on Manipur, comprising Chin, Kuki, Zomi, Mizo and Hmar tribes, celebrated the 77th Independence Day with a ceremonial march past and singing of national anthem at a mega event in Churachandpur on Tuesday.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday said that certain misunderstandings, actions of vested interests and conspiracies of foreign nationals trying to destabilise the state led to the widespread violence that claimed hundreds of lives and resulted in the loss of properties.
The security forces in Manipur have recovered 16 looted arms, 11 types of ammunition and a large quantity of explosives during the past 48 hours, officials said on Sunday night.
Amid the ethnic violence in Manipur, an apex body of seven militant outfits in Manipur on Saturday gave a call to boycott Independence Day programmes, besides calling for a 17-hour general shutdown on August 15.
Thousands of women on Friday participated in sit-in demonstrations in Manipur’s five valley districts in protest against the alleged gang rape of a 37-year-old woman in Churachandpur on May 3 and demanded a CBI probe into the crime.
Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh said on Thursday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his speech in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, presented very important and pertinent points regarding the present conflict in the state.
Another horrific case of rape and torture has come to light in ethnic violence-hit Manipur after the survivor -- now living in a relief camp -- filed a detailed complaint with the police unfolding the crime that took place on May 3.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday assured the tribal leaders from Manipur that security will be further tightened in the hill and tribal areas of the northeastern state.
A massive rally was organised by the Naga tribals in Manipur on Wednesday demanding resolution of the decades-old Naga political issue based on the Framework Agreement, signed between the Central government and the NSCN-IM on August 3, 2015.
The Army on Wednesday said that some hostile elements have made desperate, repeated and failed attempts to question the role, intent and integrity of the central security forces, especially the Assam Rifles, working relentlessly in Manipur since the ethnic violence erupted on May 3.
A police officer in Imphal said that Assam Rifles jawans, led by their officers, had last week blocked police vehicles on the Kwakta Gothol road while the police were going to undertake operations against militants.
A meeting between Home Minister Amit Shah and leaders of Manipur's Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) was scheduled to take place on Tuesday but was not held as the Minister was busy with the Parliament session.
Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh on Tuesday urged all MLAs, who have been demanding separate administrations for the tribals in the state, to attend the upcoming assembly session and discuss everything on the floor of the House and try to solve all issues together.
A police official said that heavy exchange of fire took place between the security forces and the armed attackers at Kwakta and Terakhongsangbi areas in Bishnupur district and at Mualngat, Gothol, Pholjang areas of Churachandpur district.
The Meira Paibi, an organisation of Meitei women, on Monday staged protests against Assam Rifles in five districts of the Manipur Valley, alleging that the para-military force had "unleashed atrocities" on the Meitei people.
The COCOMI said that the conflict can only be inferred to be pre-planned as tension started building up from April 27 after an open gym to be inaugurated by the Manipur Chief Minister was vandalised.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will constitute a three-judge committee headed by Justice Gita Mittal, former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to look into “humanitarian” issues like relief, rehabilitation, remedial, etc., in the violence-hit Manipur.
Leaders of Manipur's Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday to press for its demands, which include a separate state for the trinals.
