Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Dedicated Phone Lines To End Manipur Rumours

Last updated on: May 30, 2023 16:34 IST

Officials in Imphal said it has been decided to set up dedicated telephone lines which will be used to dispel rumour-mongering which has largely affected the process to calm down the situation and bring peace in troubled Manipur.

At a meeting between Home Minister Amit A Shah, who is visiting Manipur, and Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday night, it was also decided that essential items -- petrol, LPG gas, rice and other food products -- will be made available in large quantities to cool down prices.

IMAGE: Rapid Action Force personnel deployed in Imphal. Photograph: ANI Photo

The central and Manipur state governments also decided to give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) to those who died during the ethnic conflict in Manipur.

A member of the family of those who died in the rioting will also be provided a job.

The compensation amount will be equally borne by the Centre and the state, officials added.

 

The home minister, who flew in to Imphal on Monday night, is accompanied by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka.

Shah will hold meetings with political and civil society leaders from both the Meitei and Kuki communities and visit Churachandpur, the site of some of the worst rioting earlier this month, on Tuesday.

Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Since then there have been waves of unrest, including a latest round of clashes which saw at least five dead on Sunday, May 28, 2023.

The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.

Tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

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 north eastern state.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.