Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he will visit strife-torn Manipur even as one person was killed in fresh violence between suspected militants and a group of people in an area bordering Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts. Shah, who arrived in Assam’s Guwahati in the afternoon, appealed all people to maintain peace and resolve all disputes through dialogues.
“I will go to Manipur soon and stay there for three days but before that, both groups should remove mistrust and suspicion among themselves and ensure that peace is restored in the state,” he said while laying the foundation stone of the tenth national campus of the National Forensic Sciences University to be set Changsari area of Kamrup district in Assam.
The home minister said the Centre will ensure that justice is given to all who suffered in the clashes which broke out in Manipur, but “people must hold a dialogue to ensure peace”.
According to reports, suspected militants opened fire at a group of people, mostly comprising those who were displaced during the recent ethnic clashes in Churachandpur, on Wednesday, killing one person. The deceased was identified as Toijam Chandramoni, 30, while another person, Leichombam Abungnao, 22, has been injured in the firing.
The militants have also torched the houses a few villagers in Bishnupur district. Following the violence, the authorities have clamped curfew for 24 hours in the area and reduced the curfew relaxation by hours in several other districts.
Meanwhile, a group of people on Wednesday vandalised the house of PWD Minister Konthoujam Govindas in Bishnupur district alleging that the state government was not doing enough to protect locals from militants.
Manipur has been on the boil ever since clashed broke out after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The state was already witnessing a series a smaller agitations over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land.
The ethnic clashes have so far claimed over 70 lives and some 10,000 army and paramilitary personnel had to be deployed to restore normalcy in the northeastern state.
