Manipur Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata is yet to act on the memorandum submitted to him by Okram Joy, a former Minister who on May 19 demanded suitable action against ten Kuki MLAs. The MLAs are demanding a separate administration for the tribal people in the State. The veteran politician said that the ten MLAs have taken an oath to abide by the Constitution and since they are “going against the Constitution”, action should be taken against them.
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Four ruling BJP MLAs have also submitted a memorandum to the Speaker seeking disqualification of the ten Kuki MLAs.
The MLAs in their memorandum reportedly said that the BJP government has stripped all Kuki policemen ranging from the DGP and constables of their powers. It further said that policemen of the Meitei community are posted in Kuki areas. It may be noted that in the clashes between the two communities over 86 persons were killed and many others wounded.
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The government has come down heavily on false propaganda. A statement issued by P. Doungel, IPS, the DGP, a Kuki tribal dismissed the claim and called it a baseless charge. All the Kuki policemen ranging from himself to constables are doing their normal duties.
Meanwhile, curfew has been relaxed in several places in view of the improving situation. On May 20, curfew was relaxed in Imphal East, Imphal West and Thoubal districts from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. However, there was no relaxation in some trouble-prone areas. Heavily armed central forces are continuing to patrol areas in vulnerable districts.
Several persons and organizations are contributing to relief camps spread over the State. There is a shortage of food and life-saving medicines in relief camps. People who have to take daily medications have reported facing shortage and issues.
A large number of people have been staging sit-in protest demanding that Manipur’s territory cannot be altered. There are also demands to withdraw from the suspension of operations with the Kuki militants. After the clash that broke out on May 3, the government inspected some of the designated camps of Kuki militants. It was reported that some militants along with sophisticated weapons were not in the camps.
Chief Minister Shri N. Biren Singh who also holds the Home Affairs portfolio had recently announced that the government was pulling out of the suspension of operations agreements, citing that some militants were not following ground rules.