Y Khemchand Singh has been elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in Manipur, setting the stage for a new government in the state. The election took place at a BJP legislature party meeting, with endorsement from NDA constituents expected.
The Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Board on Monday appointed party national general secretary Tarun Chugh as the central observer for the election of the legislature party leader in Manipur, indicating the possible formation of a popular government in the Northeastern state.
Biren Singh relinquished the post on February 9 last year amid rumblings within the state BJP seeking a change of leadership in strife-torn Manipur.
In a significant step towards restoring peace in Manipur, representatives of the warring Meitei and Kuki communities met face-to-face for the first time since ethnic violence erupted nearly two years ago. The meeting, facilitated by the Union Home Ministry, aimed to enhance trust and cooperation between the communities and find a roadmap to restore normalcy in the state.
The incident took place in Khoijumantabi village late on Saturday night when the 'village volunteers' were guarding the area in a makeshift bunker, a police officer said.
Haokip advocated giving "political and administrative recognition to the ethnic separation" in the state, upping the ante from earlier vaguely explained demands for a "separate administration" for Kuki areas made by fellow Kuki community leaders.
'We are not secessionists, we want to coexist with our countrymen but not on the terms that will strip us off our dignity and a right to peaceful existence.'
The ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur has claimed 258 lives since May last year, the state government's Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh said on Friday.
The Zomi-Kuki organisation also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for a permanent solution to the ongoing ethnic strife
Security forces in Manipur have launched a major crackdown on the banned People's Liberation Army (PLA) following an ambush on an Assam Rifles convoy. Fifteen cadres have been arrested, including suspects directly involved in the attack. Investigations are underway to determine if the PLA has political patronage and if weapons looted during ethnic clashes are being used against security forces.
The meeting happened amid fresh violence in the state, in which at least five people were killed in Jiribam district on Saturday.
'Political protection allow groups to recruit, rearm and operate with reduced operational pressure. That increases their bargaining power and their ability to destabilise.'
Security agencies in Manipur are investigating an arms smuggling racket originating from Myanmar, with potential nationwide implications. The probe follows the arrest of a senior leader from a Valley-based Insurgent Group (VBIG).
Supreme Court judge, Justice B R Gavai, expressed hope that the "current difficult phase" in ethnic strife-torn Manipur will be over soon with the assistance of the executive, legislature and judiciary and the state will prosper like the rest of the country. Justice Gavai, who led a delegation of Supreme Court judges that visited Manipur, called upon the people of the state to work together to restore peace and harmony. He also urged the people of the state to work together to restore peace and normalcy, and lauded the natural beauty he witnessed while travelling from Imphal to Churachandpur. He expressed delight in noting that training programmes were being imparted at the relief camps, and thanked the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court and the district legal services authority for their efforts. Justice Gavai also stressed the need for readmission of students who had to drop out of school due to the conflict and called upon the educational institutions and the public to ensure all students complete their education.
Nineteen armed groups belonging to the Kuki National Organisation and the United Peoples' Front mutually agreed to extend Suspension of Operation in their quest of settling their political agendas.
'Our politicians solely depend on bureaucrats who are unaccountable and follow their own agenda.' 'Our politicians would dare not dream of establishing a DOGE,' argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Just a day after an agreement was signed between Hmar and Meitei representatives to restore peace in ethnic violence-hit Jiribam district of Manipur, the apex body of the Hmar community said that the pact stood 'null and void'.
The area was a theatre of violence for several years since Naga-Kuki ethnic clash broke out in 1993 and the civilian Kuki tribe population suffered severely in that war zone.
'You can still hear gunshots, and this time even children know they are not normal.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party is ahead in 20 seats in Manipur, with Chief Minister N Biren Singh leading by a handsome margin of more than 16,000 votes against his nearest Congress rival in Heingang constituency, Election Commission data showed.
'The kind of situation we are seeing...we don't believe that this can happen in a settled democracy like India'
The government on Monday banned nine Meitei extremist groups and their associate organisations, which mostly operate in Manipur, for their anti-national activities, and launching fatal attacks on security forces.
'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.'
'There is a list with the Ministry of Home Affairs that has the details and names of the terrorist organisations that attack the Indian Army.'
Speaking to PTI-Video, Singh said the talks were at an advanced stage, even though he stayed away from naming the underground organisation.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, accompanied by four of his cabinet ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party state president Sarada Devi, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Sunday, state minister and government spokesperson Sapam Ranjan Singh told PTI.
'The Assam Rifles are supporting the Kuki-narco terrorists.'
India has strongly rejected comments by United Nations experts on Manipur, terming them 'unwarranted, presumptive and misleading' and asserting that situation in the Northeast state is peaceful.
Chowdhury said that the visiting MPs will present their observations on Manipur in Parliament.
Manipur witness more violence on Tuesday when unidentified armed men, suspected to be cadres of banned terror groups, attacked people from the tribal community in the morning killing three of them in Kangpokpi district, officials said.
Over 1,300 people signed the open letter within 48 hours, which was submitted to the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA was extended by another six months in Manipur on Wednesday barring 19 police stations falling under the Imphal valley and an area that shares its boundary with neighbouring Assam.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's convoy was on Thursday stopped by the Manipur police at Bishnupur, about 20 kilometres from Imphal, officials said.
'It will be the end of the Congress after the Lok Sabha election.' 'Many Congressmen and even Communists will move to the BJP.'
In a memorandum submitted to Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey, the 21 opposition MPs who signed the document demanded urgent rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected people to bring peace and harmony to the state.
'The prime minister has not yet expressed anything regarding Manipur. Is Manipur a part of India or not? If it is, why hasn't the Prime Minister of India spoken about it'
Altogether 78 persons were killed and 191 kidnapped by different insurgent outfits in Assam during the last two years when 20 security personnel were also killed, Minister Rockybul Hussain said on Monday in the assembly.
Nine young men killed in police firing last August have become symbols of oppression of the tribals of Manipur.
Manipur needs an integrated politico, military, socio-economic approach, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Indians all over the US are going beyond being human and are learning to be humanitarian and expand their philanthropy activities finds Ajailiu Niumai.
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