The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday said it has asked Manipur government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation each within four weeks to the next of kin of all the people who died in ethnic clashes since May.
Rumours are flying that several people were killed and injured in police action in the town, hours after a bandh called by Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) concluded at 4 pm.
At 79, Zoramthanga is working to rebuild his image as the people's CM.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended till September 15 its order asking the Manipur police not to take any coercive steps against four members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI) in connection with two FIRs lodged against them for alleged offences, including promoting enmity between two communities.
The present happenings in Manipur are the wages of continued neglect, and not so benign at that, of a vital region and its people. Had we lavished on the North East even a fraction of the care and resources we do on Kashmir, things would not have come to this pass, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
A statement issued by Home Department said that the illegal influx was reported on July 22 and 23 in Chandel district by Assam Rifles, the India-Myanmar border guarding force.
Armed vigilante groups have been taking the law into their own hands in parts of Manipur, in the wake of ethnic rioting earlier, thus complicating the peace process. At times, militant groups have joined in the fray, creating an even more volatile cocktail of ethnic tension.
'It's unfortunate that the prime minister prioritises his own image over the humanitarian situation that is unfolding in Manipur, prioritising his ego over the atrocities that women and tribals have had to suffer in Manipur.'
A large number of women from Malom in Imphal West district blocked the road to the airport in protest against the killing of the policemen in Moreh.
The FIR claimed that one person was killed by the mob as he tried to protect his sister from being raped on May 4 before the two were paraded naked and molested in front of others.
The CBI has arrested from Pune a 22-year-old man suspected to be the mastermind behind the case of two missing Manipuri students who were believed to have been killed, officials said.
The Imphal Valley in Manipur, which remained peaceful for most of Friday, witnessed sporadic clashes later in the day as more security forces were rushed in from other states by road and air to calm down a state which had witnessed bloody ethnic rioting over the last 48 hours.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
There was a brief lull between 3 am and 6 am, but the sounds of indiscriminate firing from Phayeng and Singda villages in the Kangchuk area along the two districts resumed after that.
The members of the peace committee include the chief minister, a few ministers, MPs, MLAs, leaders from different political parties and civil society groups.
Life in the north-eastern state of Manipur continued to limp back to normal as curfew was relaxed in 11 districts, including Imphal West, Bishnupur, Churachandpur and Jiribam, for six hours from 5 am, as no fresh incident of violence was reported, officials said on Wednesday.
The Manipur high court has directed the state government to operationalise mobile towers, on a trial basis, in all those district headquarters which have not been affected by ethnic strife.
Stalin told the Manipur chief minister in a letter dated July 31 that he has been informed that more than 50,000 people were staying in relief camps due to the 'prevailing situation' in the northeastern state, apparently referring to the violence there.
More than 600 Meiteis have left Mizoram due to fear of tension after a video two tribal women being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur surfaced online recently, a senior police officer said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at Sapormeina when the buses were coming from Dimapur on Tuesday evening.
Firing between security forces and armed men has been reported from Pallel area of Manipur's Tengnoupal district since early hours of Friday, officials said.
Demanding the resignation of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal on Tuesday questioned why the CM could not meet the women who were stripped and paraded, when she could do so.
The Manipur government dubbed as untrue the claim by the counsel for the committee appointed by the apex court to oversee relief and rehabilitation of the victims of ethnic violence that the people of the state were suffering on account of an economic blockade.
Joshi, a 1992 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Manipur cadre, replaced Dr Rajesh Kumar.
They staged sit-in demonstrations in various localities blocking roads, demanding the removal of Assam Rifles from violence-hit areas and accusing the paramilitary force of "brutality during recent agitations".
'They are fighting it out, but they have deeply traumatised; they are alive and they are carrying on in life.'
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu shelled out Rs 60,000 from his own pocket for the evacuation of five local students stuck in violence-hit Manipur, an official spokesperson of the government said on Monday.
The mob tried to storm the camp of 3rd IRB batallion in the Khangabok area to loot arms and ammunition, they said.
No process can offer a panacea for ethnic conflict, but there are times at which a legal process could work to defuse violence, asserts Supreme Court lawyer Devvrat.
According to a notification issued by the Union home ministry, the commission will make inquiry with respect of the causes and spread of the violence and riots targeting members of different communities, which took place in Manipur on May 3 and thereafter.
The United States is 'shocked and horrified' by the video of an extreme attack on two women in Manipur and supports the Indian government's efforts to seek justice for them, a senior Biden administration official has said.
"Which foreign powers may be interested in taking advantage of unrest and instability in Manipur? Does the geopolitics of south east Asia also have a role in these events," he asked.
Security presence which has been bolstered by flying in more army troops and rapid action force and central police forces was clearly visible at all major areas and roads.
Curfew was imposed in the entire Imphal valley on Thursday following violent protests for the release of five men, including a trained cadre of a banned terror outfit, who were arrested earlier this week on the charges of extortion.
Known as 'Sentinels of the North East' and 'Friends of the Hill People', the officers, drawn from the Army, and jawans have been fighting a war of nerves since the ethnic clashes between majority Meitei and hill tribe Kukis erupted on May 3.
The Imphal Valley in Manipur remained peaceful but tense on Friday, however intermittent gunfights between militant groups and security forces were reported from the hill districts surrounding the valley.
Senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh, belonging to the neighbouring Tripura cadre, was on Thursday appointed as the new director general of police of Manipur.
The CBI has so far registered eight cases which include two related to alleged sexual assault on women in Manipur.
'Somebody strong is playing a game behind the violence in Manipur.' 'It is a pre-planned attack on churches, Christian organisations and Christians.'
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that mobile internet services, which were suspended after ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state on May 3, will be restored from Saturday.
