The Centre has promised to operationalise air services from the hill districts of Manipur to allow connectivity with the rest of the country, as tribal groups refuse to travel to Imphal airport fearing for their safety.
Home Minister Amit Shah “assured that supply of essential items in hill areas and helicopter services for emergency needs in Churachandpur, Moreh and Kangpokpi will be ensured”, a Home Ministry statement said.
Also read: Amit Shah appeals for 15-day peace in Manipur
Security review
On Wednesday, Mr. Shah visited Kangpokpi and Moreh on the Manipur-Myanmar border, where he met civil society groups and reviewed the security situation. On the third day of his visit to Manipur, the Minister also visited relief camps in Kangpokpi and Imphal, housing Kuki and Meitei communities displaced by the ethnic violence that erupted in the State from May 3.
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“Convened a meeting with civil society organisations in Kangpokpi, Manipur. They are keen to actively participate with the government in reviving harmony among communities in Manipur,” Mr. Shah said in a tweet.
According to Thangboi Lhungdim of the Kuki Students Organisation in Moreh, Mr. Shah assured them of helicopter services plying from Churachandpur to Aizawl and Guwahati in the neighbouring States of Mizoram and Assam.
Also read: Manipur unrest | The embers of Meitei-Kuki conflict still glow
‘Chain reaction’
As Mr. Shah held meetings, at least seven villages in the two districts were attacked and several houses were set on fire, according to Muan Tombing, general secretary of the Indigeneous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF). Since May 26, days before Mr. Shah arrived in Imphal on May 29, more than 900 houses in 31 villages in the hill districts of Chandel, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur have been burnt down and around 4,750 people have been displaced, ITLF said.
“Even as the Home Minister was visiting, several houses were burnt down. When we told him about the incidents, the Home Minister said it is a chain reaction from both sides and called to maintain peace for 15 days,” Mr. Lhungdim said.
The groups reiterated their demand for President’s Rule and a separate administration for tribal areas from Manipur. The Kuki groups in Moreh also demanded the removal of Manipur police commandos from the area, accusing them of attacking the minorities.
Need for choppers
Mr. Tombing added that there are several students and officials posted with Central government who are stuck in the hills. “The distance between Aizawl and Churachandpur by road is 400 km. That is why we are demanding helicopter services as we cannot go to Imphal airport. One of the Kuki MLAs who went to attend a meeting in Imphal after the May 3 violence is still in the Intensive Care Unit,” Mr. Tombing said.
While the State’s Director General of Police P. Doungel accompanied Mr. Shah to the hill areas, the officer — who belongs to the Kuki community — was not present in the security review meeting held in Imphal in the presence of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh. Mr. Shah was briefed by retired Indian Police Service officer Kuldiep Singh, who was appointed as security adviser by the Manipur government after the May 3 violence. The Chief Minister did not accompany Mr. Shah to the tribal districts. The tribal groups and ten Kuki legislators, including seven from the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), have demanded his resignation.
Stranded students
On Thursday, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will visit Manipur to assess the situation, as several students from hill areas who were enrolled in Central universities in Imphal have left the city and are unable to resume classes.
Since May 3, clashes between the two communities over a move to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the Meiteis have claimed at least 75 lives and displaced 35,000 people.
‘Outlaw Meitei radicals’
In Tengnoupal district, Mr. Shah held a meeting with the delegations of Kukis and other communities at Moreh, a trade hub on the India-Myanmar border with a mixed population of Tamil, Nepali, Bihari, Rajasthani, Bengali, and Punjabi communities, apart from Meitei and Kuki communities. At both Moreh and Kangpokpi, he was accompanied by Home Secretary A.K. Bhalla and Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Kumar Deka, among others.
Also read: Manipur’s Kuki extremist groups pin hopes on Amit Shah
Hundreds of people, holding the national flag, greeted Mr Shah at these two places. They accused the Meitei radical groups, Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, of perpetrating the violence and demanded that they be outlawed.
A civilian was injured in an exchange of fire between security forces and suspected extremists in Imphal East district. A gunfight was also reported from Sugnu in Kakching district on Tuesday night.
Remove roadblocks: CM
Meanwhile, Manipur’s Chief Minister urged people not to violate curfew restrictions and block roads, affecting the free movement of security personnel as well as material for relief camps.
“Such roadblocks are increasing the hardship of our already traumatised people in relief camps, including pregnant women and young children by halting the movement of health personnel, medicine, food, milk and water meant for them,” Mr. Singh said. “Such roadblocks are also making it extremely difficult for security and police personnel to respond to attacks by armed groups on time,” he added.
The CM also appealed for the immediate return and surrender of the arms and ammunition snatched from the armed police battalions and police stations in the Imphal Valley and the hill districts. “Legal action as per the Arms Act 1959 and Rules will be taken in case any person is found to be in unauthorised and illegal possession of arms and ammunition during combing operations by security personnel, or otherwise,” he warned.
