Following clashes in several districts of Manipur, the Indian Army on Friday said that the situation was now under control. Meanwhile, the North East Frontier Railways has suspended all train operations through the state for the next 48 hours due to prevailing unrest.
This comes days after violence broke out during the course of a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ called by the All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM). The march was organised in protest against the demand for inclusion of the state’s Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, following an April 19 Manipur High Court directive.
In a video statement, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said the incidents were a result of a “prevailing misunderstanding between two communities” and appealed to the people of the state to cooperate with the government to maintain law and order.
“Indian Air Force undertook continuous sorties from two airfields in Assam employing C17 Globemaster and AN 32 aircrafts. Induction commenced on night of 04 May and additional columns commenced domination with effect from wee hours of 05 May 23. Domination and evacuation of civilians of all communities from affected areas continued throughout the night. Flag march in CC’Pur and other sensitive areas underway,” read a statement released by the Defence PRO Guwahati on Friday.
Amid Manipur violence, Union Home Minister Amit Shah skips K’taka campaign visit
Due to the tense situation in Manipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has decided to skip his visit to Karnataka ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in the state so that he can monitor the security situation in the Northeastern state, sources from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs told The the media
As the situation worsened on Thursday, the state home department asked the district magistrates to issue shoot-at-sight orders “in extreme cases whereby all forms of persuasion, warning, reasonable force, etc. had been exhausted under the provisions of law…”
By Wednesday evening, the violence spread from the hill districts to other parts of the state, including Imphal valley, which has practically been under siege since. Through Thursday, mobs went on a rampage, burning houses and vehicles allegedly belonging to a particular tribal group. At least two churches have been torched too. Meanwhile, in the hill districts such as Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, pockets with Meitei residents were allegedly under attack.
Several neighbouring states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura have offered their support to the N Biren Singh-led government amid the violence.
“Government of Tripura has opened the following helpline numbers for providing support on 24×7 basis to the residents of Tripura with respect to disturbance in #Manipur,” tweeted Tripura CM Manik Saha.
Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh has set up a coordination committee to help evacuate students trapped in Manipur.
(Inputs from Agencies)
