Manipur Violence: Amit Shah To Meet Meitei, Kuki Groups, Visit Churachandpur Today To Restore Peace

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit one of the most violence-hit areas in Manipur, Churachandpur and also meet the leader of both Meitei and Kuki communities.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will on Tuesday visit Churachandpur and meet leaders of both Meitei and Kuki communities in a bid to restore peace in violence-hit Manipur. Shah will also hold meetings with several political and civil society leaders, reported PTI. Shah is on a four-day visit to the strife-torn state which has been witnessing continuous arson for the last one month. 

The minister reached the state capital Imphal on Monday night along with home secretary and had held a meeting with chief minister N Biren Singh, as well as some of his cabinet colleagues, intelligence and security officials, reported PTI. 

The news agency mentioned sources as saying that the meeting decided on a series of relief measures as well as steps to augment supplies in this northeastern state to cool down prices of essential commodities. The prices steeply rose in the region since ethnic violence began earlier this month. 

Sources said Kuki leaders and MLAs, many of whom had left for neighbouring states, may be flown in for talks with him. 

According to PTI, Kukis have been demanding a separate administration for the districts they live in, failing which they have asked for President’s rule being imposed of the state. Manipur, afflicted by ethnic conflict for nearly a month witnessed a sudden rise in conflicts and firing between militants and security forces on Sunday, after a relative normalcy for several weeks. 

The toll from the clashes has gone up to 80, according to officials, the agency said. 

Army and paramilitary forces have been conducting combing operations in the Imphal valley and surrounding districts, an official said. The operations are aimed at confiscating illegal caches of arms, he said, as quoted by PTI. 

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts. 

As per PTI, around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces, had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the northeastern state.