'Extraordinary Sad Call': Ex-Army Chief On Retired Officer's 'Stateless' Tweet On Manipur Violence
Former Indian Army chief General VP Malik (retired) has called for ‘urgent attention’ to the prevailing unrest in Manipur.
Former Indian Army chief General VP Malik (retired) has sought ‘urgent attention’ to the prevailing unrest in Manipur where ethnic clashes between the Meiteis and the Kuki tribe have been going on since May 3. Referring to a tweet by a retired senior army officer from Manipur, Malik said that the issue "needs urgent attention" and tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah in the tweet. He was reacting to the tweet of Lieutenant General L Nishikanta R Singh (retired), who is a resident of the state. Singh said that Manipur is now "stateless", and compared it with countries where incidents of violence and infighting are very common.
"I'm just an ordinary Indian from Manipur living a retired life. The state is now 'stateless'. Life and property can be destroyed anytime by anyone just like in Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Syria, etc. It appears Manipur has been left to stew in its own juice. Is anyone listening?" Lt General Singh tweeted.
Retweeting this, General Malik said, "An extraordinary sad call from a retired Lt General from Manipur. Law and order situation in Manipur needs urgent attention at highest level."
Notably, on May 30, Lt General Singh had said some "300 terrorists" including "lungi-clad ones" from Myanmar have entered Manipur amid the ethnic violence between the Meiteis and the Chin-Kuki people. The "lungi-clad" reference was seen as indicating to the involvement of Myanmar border-based insurgents who, like civilians, wear the "longyi", as it is known in the country run by a military junta, reported NDTV.
Singh retired in 2018 after serving in the Indian Army for 40 years.
This comes a day after a riotous mob battled with Manipur's Rapid Action Force in Imphal on Friday evening. Police deployed tear gas shells to disperse the group, believing it might attack nearby houses, news agency PTI reported.
"The riot occurred near the Imphal palace grounds," officials were quoted by PTI in its report.
Firefighters and security officials hurried to the scene, bringing the warehouse fire under control and preventing it from spreading to surrounding residences.
The land belonged to a retired senior IAS official from the tribal tribe.
Earlier Friday night, a crowd vandalised Union Minister of State for External Affairs R K Ranjan Singh's residence in Imphal town and attempted to burn it down, according to authorities.
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