Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh asked Nagaland to immediately lift the economic blockade on the neighbouring Manipur.
The request came when a group of students from Nagaland met Dr Singh at his office on Monday afternoon and had a 45-minute meeting.
Dr Singh asked the student delegation to lift the blockade of National Highway No: 39 to facilitate the movement of essential commodities to Manipur, where the prices have soared beyond the reach of citizens. For example, rice is priced at Rs 100 per kg, while cooking gas cylinders are being sold between Rs 1500 and Rs 2000. Medicines too are in short supply.
If Naga students want their leader Muivah to visit his home village in Manipur, then the students must lift the blockade immediately, Dr. Singh is learnt to have told the delegation.
After the meeting, a Naga student leader blamed the Manipur government for the present crisis.
It is understood that Muivah will take a final decision on the prime minister's request of ending the 65-day old economic blockade of Manipur. Union home secretary G K Pillai told journalists that central forces would be sent to Nagaland to bring an end to the economic blockade.
Interestingly, Home Minister P Chidambaram told rediff.com that he would take steps to open an alternative route to supply essential commodities and medical aid to the state. This assurance was given more than two weeks ago, but it seems it did not fructify into reality. No one in the ministry is willing to discuss in detail why this was not done.
Giving his party's reaction to Dr Singh taking the step forward to end the crisis, BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar said that until the matter was settled to the satisfaction of everyone it would not be proper to assume that BJP is satisfied.
"Dr Singh was forced to intervene. In a democracy, you cannot afford to allow a situation to drift apart in order to appease one state at the cost of another," Javdekar told rediff.com.
Javdekar led a three-member team of the party to assess the situation and report to the party top brass. Later, the delegation met Home Minister P Chidambaram and impressed upon him the need to take immediate measures to end the blockade.
"Two-hundred trucks and a planeload of medicines were sent by the ministry. But that cannot change the situation. They have to ensure that the economic blockade comes to an early end. More then 57 days have passed, but it seems that the Government of India is not interested in taking up the issue with all the seriousness it deserves," he said.
