Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday here chaired a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Manipur which has been witnessing violence for over a year. Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Army Chief designate Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Deka, Manipur Chief Secretary VIneet Joshi, Manipur police chief Rajiv Singh and Assam Rifles head Pradeep Chandran attended the meeting.
This was first such high-level meeting by the Central Government after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was re-elected earlier this month. The meeting was held at the Ministry of Home Affairs as fresh violence was reported in Manipur.
Since May 3 last year, Manipur has witnessed clashes between the two communities Kukis and Meiteis, which has claimed at least 225 lives to date and uprooted around 50,000 people, many of whom are still residing in relief Centres.
The Northeastern State has seen fresh violence in the last couple of weeks with a school building near Moreh being set ablaze and a missing person’s beheaded body found was found.
Last week, armed militants ambushed the convoy of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s advanced security team in Kangpokpi district, leaving a civilian driver and a security officer injured.
On Sunday, Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey had called on Shah here and is believed to have discussed the prevailing situation in the Northeastern State.
Violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023 after a tribal solidarity march in the hill districts of the State to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
On June 10, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat expressed concern over peace eluding Manipur even after one year and said the situation in the strife-torn Northeastern State must be considered with priority.
Addressing a gathering of RSS trainees in Nagpur, he said, “Manipur is waiting for peace for the last one year. There was peace in Manipur 10 years ago. It felt like gun culture had finished there. But the State has suddenly seen violence”.
Bhagwat said the situation in Manipur will have to be considered with priority and there is need to get over election rhetoric and focus on problems facing the nation.
“The unrest either got triggered or was triggered, but Manipur is burning and people are facing its extreme heat,” the RSS chief had said.
