MHA team visits Manipur, meets govt officials & leaders

Imphal, Jan 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) A three-member Central team led by Ministry of Home Affairs Advisor, A.K. Mishra arrived in Manipur on Monday and held meetings with the government officials and leaders of various organisations.

Officials said that Mishra, accompanied by two Joint Directors, Intelligence Bureau, Mandeep Singh Tuli and Rajesh Kumble, arrived on Monday evening.

Soon after their arrival, they held a series of meetings with the government officials and leaders of various organisations and elected leaders.

"The MHA team held meetings with a few Meitei organisations including women bodies and some elected leaders and discussed the prevailing situation in Manipur," an official told IANS, refusing to disclose the further details of these meetings.

The visit of the MHA team in violence-hit Manipur assumes significance as some organisations have threatened to launch massive agitation if the government does not take action against the militants and the immigrants from Myanmar.

The militants, in their stepped up attacks in the last few days, killed at least seven persons, including two Manipur police commandos, four villagers and a village defence volunteer.

Meanwhile, in a significant development in Manipur, 34 MLAs, mostly of the ruling BJP, have urged the Central government to abrogate the Suspension of Operation (SoO) with the armed militant outfits, otherwise the legislators would take "appropriate action" in consultation with the people.

The 34 MLAs, in a meeting on Sunday, took a unanimous resolution requesting the Central government to abrogate the SoO, signed between the Central and state governments and 23 Kuki militant outfits in 2008 and 2,266 Kuki cadres have been staying in different designated camps in Manipur.

"If Government of India is unable to take any positive action as per the resolution, we the legislators will take appropriate action in consultation with the public,” said the resolution, accessed by IANS.

Manipur has witnessed unprecedented violent clashes, attacks, counter-attacks, and burning of vehicles and government and private properties in 10 of the 16 districts during and after May 3 'Tribal Solidarity March' called by the All-Tribal Students' Union of Manipur to oppose the demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe category.

In the ethnic violence between the non-tribal Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo communities, over 190 people have been killed and over 1,500 people injured while over 70,000 people of both communities displaced.

Source: IANS