'As soon as the violence broke out, they should have stepped in and sent a message that the state is there to stop this violence.' 'Had they done it right there, the situation would not have gone out of control.'
Real Kashmir FC face defending champions Chennai City FC in their first I-League home match of the season on Thursday in the first big sporting event in the Kashmir Valley since it became a union territory. The abrogation of Article 370 and the ensuing lockdown in the valley in August had raised security concerns, but Real Kashmir have made elaborate arrangements since then, allaying the fears of the visiting teams.
'The State uses identity politics as part of divide and rule; the militant groups too use identity politics and civil society groups are also divided along ethnic groups.'
'Deeply hurt by Modi's conspicuous silence for over a month-and-a-half since the outbreak of violence, people in Manipur came on the roads and crushed their radio sets to express their frustration and anger.' 'The fact that Modi's Mann Ki Baat did not have a single reference to the Manipur violence further accentuated this hurt and anger.'
'This committee underscores the Indian State's longstanding conventional approach to leverage top-down conflict management in North East India in general and Manipur in particular.' 'Trying to 'manage' violent conflicts top-down has not worked in the past, and apparently does not seem to work this time either.'
'Had it not been for the complicity of the state and Biren Singh's leadership, these riots would not have spread this far and for so long.'
'Till the time the chief minister continues to have command over the state forces, we don't think that gives any hope of peace coming back to Manipur.'
'They have come here to protect people, but the allegation is that they help the armed organisations attack and burn down the houses of the Meiteis.' 'Many people have lost faith in the central forces as they believe these forces are involved in the escalation of the problem.'
Blockade is an issue which has seemingly widened the divide between the hills and the plains.
'Somebody strong is playing a game behind the violence in Manipur.' 'It is a pre-planned attack on churches, Christian organisations and Christians.'
'If Manipur is divided on ethnic lines, similar demands will come in other states also.'
'And (the prime minister does so) without giving any hint of a recognition of the political violence resulting in the ethnic cleansing (of tribals and Kukis) which he simply equates it with atrocities against women in other parts of India.' 'This is not acceptable.'
The church bells don't toll in Churachandpur any more. The hill district in Manipur has been in mourning for more than a year.
'It has been doing yeoman service for the people of the North East.'
Earlier in the day, TRAU FC earn maiden I-League point after 2-2 draw against Real Kashmir,
The former footballer who later became editor of a vernacular daily Naharolgi Thoudang, has managed to strike a chord with the youth, promoting entrepreneurship through programmes such as 'Start-Up Manipur' as an alternative for young people who were being attracted to insurgency.
People are protesting against the killing of 30-year-old Th Manorama Devi, allegedly by Assam Rifles personnel.
'How can such barbarity, bestiality, happen in modern India?'
'If the Kukis and Meiteis are the warring groups, then we need to find space for a third group which can mediate between the two.'
There is the problem of regions in the North East being theatre for power-play by nations with borders and influences converging in those parts, which in turn requires a sizable presence of the armed forces, notes Shyam G Menon.
Altogether 155 candidates are in fray for the polls in 29 Assembly constituencies spread over three valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupur, official sources said.
In view of the blast, security personnel, particularly in valley districts have been asked to step up security measures and patrolling to detect movement of armed militants
With no rains for the third consecutive day, the flood situation in Manipur improved marginally as all the major rivers began receding.
A lesson we have not learnt from China is the urgent need to knit the vast country together to keep it from falling apart at the seams. While there is considerable dent in poverty, sadly, the North East remains as distant today as it always was, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
Security forces have also been deployed at various places in view of the agitation launched yesterday by 32 organisations spearheading the month-long stir to press for lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
Nearly four lakh people have been affected across seven districts of Assam.
The situation has improved marginally in Tripura and Mizoram in the past 24 hours.
'I was exhausted, hungry, unshaven and despondent.' 'My mouth was full of sores due to dehydration.' 'My clothes were in tatters due to walking through bushes and sliding down thorny slopes,' Brigadier John Parshuram Dalvi wrote of his capture during the 1962 War.
Several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Israel Canada and Singapore, have asked their citizens to exercise caution while travelling to the Northeast India which has witnessed violent protests against the amended citizenship act.
Much of the pre-2014 peace in our hotspots is diminished. Kashmir is on the boil and the Northeast is anarchic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Truckers in Manipur are not willing to hit the troubled NH 39 that connects border town of Moreh and Imphal to Assam valley through Dimapur in Nagaland, even after agitating Naga groups in Manipur the All Naga Students' Association of Manipur and the United Naga Council -- have lifted the 67-days-long blockade of the highway from Friday evening.
Almost all states and Union Territories have extended the curbs which they first started imposing in mid-April as the second COVID wave hit the country.
The issue at the core of it is the perceived fear among the locals of getting outnumbered and uprooted by 'others' and eventually losing their identity
The 32 organisations spearheading the stir against AFSPA have separately called a 14-hour Manipur valley bandh.
The Army has asked telecom companies to realise the security implications of such malpractices.
With COVID cases declining, Delhi will see further relaxation in lockdown, including reopening of markets and malls and resumption of metro services, from June 7 while Maharashtra will implement a five-level plan to ease curbs based on weekly positivity rate and occupancy of oxygen beds in districts.
On the occasion of her breaking the world's longest hunger strike, Rediff.com reproduces this 2011 feature on the activist and her life.
Sandeep Pandey salutes women who have contributed to social transformation in India after 1980.
