A group of people tried to gherao the residence of Union Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh in Imphal East district claiming that the government in the strife-torn state is not doing enough to protect locals from militants belonging to another community, officials said on Friday.
The Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh, has received "key evidence" related to the disappearance of a 56-year-old man who has been missing for 10 days. The evidence suggests the man disappeared from an army camp in Kangpokpi district. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) formed to find the missing man, Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, presented the evidence to the CM. Despite the evidence, the JAC remains dissatisfied with the ongoing search efforts and accuses the security forces of reluctance to cooperate. The Indian Army has deployed over 2,000 personnel in the search operation, which is taking place in a military camp surrounded by hills where the Kuki people live. The disappearance comes amid ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur, which began in May 2023.
Former India spinner and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh has demanded "capital punishment" for all those who were involved in the heinous crime of parading two Manipuri women naked and allegedly gang-raping them.
The ITLF alleged that thousands of weapons looted from state armouries in capital Imphal are being used in the "ethnic cleansing campaign".
Stating that 35 weapons of different types, ammunition and warlike stores were recovered on the second day of joint combing operations on Thursday in the hills and valley sector, the official said that the security forces are adopting confidence building measure and a people centric approach to alleviate the hardships of the people, affected by the month-long ethnic strife in the northeastern state.
A bench headed Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to list the matter for hearing on July 28 after senior advocate Anand Grover mentioned it for early hearing.
President Droupadi Murmu has approved gallantry awards to 93 armed forces personnel, including two Kirti Chakras and 14 Shaurya Chakras, on the eve of Republic Day. The Kirti Chakras, India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award, have been awarded to Major Manjit from 22 Rashtriya Rifles and posthumously to Naik Dilwar Khan, 28 Rashtriya Rifles. The president also approved 305 defense decorations to Armed Forces and other personnel.
Four persons including a Manipur police commando and a teenager were killed in Kangvai area of Bishnupur district in clashes between the two warring communities in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, officials said.
After being elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1999, Najma Heptulla rang up the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to convey the news but had to hold the phone line for an hour as a staff told her that 'madam is busy'.
'Hatred increases with every killing.' 'It sets one family against another.' 'The sooner it is stopped, the better.'
A mob tried to attack Chief Minister N Biren Singh's empty ancestral house on Thursday night, despite a security clampdown and curfew in the Imphal valley.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday directed strict action against the perpetrators of violence in Manipur and assured the state complete support from the Centre in ensuring lasting peace.
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.
Shah on Thursday appealed to the people of Manipur to maintain peace and promised that justice will be ensured to all sections of society.
Mizoram's director general of police Anil Shukla held a high-level meeting on Sunday to assess the security arrangements, a statement said.
It was a muted Independence Day celebrations because of the dawn-to-dusk general strike called by multiple militant outfits and the loss of lives and property of hundreds of people over the last three months in the ethnic strife.
More than a month before the horrific video of two women being assaulted publicly in Manipur went viral, activists had informed the National Commission for Women about not only this case but other brutal instances of rape as well, besides incidents of kidnapping, lynching, immolation and even murder in the strife-torn state.
'Can they (the Union government) provide security to every tribal in the valley? This is impossible now.'
'Everyone's voice must be heard. We will be talking to both Kukis and Meiteis'
Security forces have been diligently working to create buffer zones, such as the one established between Churachandpur and Bishnupur. However, this has proven insufficient to quell the unrest.
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.
In a statement, the UNAU Tribal Women's Forum, Delhi-NCR, said the mothers of the Kuki-Hmar-Zomi community of Manipur, represented by the group, are "deeply hurt and appalled" by the remarks made by the solicitor general in the Supreme Court on August 1.
The bench said since a batch of pleas on Manipur violence was listed for hearing during the day, it may consider his request then.
'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.'
Gandhi made the demand during her brief conversation with the prime minister in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the Monsoon session Just before the House met for the day, Modi took a round to greet various leaders.
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.
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday after passage of two bills amid continuous protests by opposition members over the violence in Manipur.
Opposition MPs on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh over the violence.
The shootout occurred at a place between Haraothel and Kobsha villages though the police are not yet sure about how it began.
'We are in a dilemma if the central government supports this ethnic violence and Biren Singh.'
A large number of arms and ammunition of the police have allegedly been looted by the rioters during the violence.
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by a mob. A 26-second video of the incident had surfaced on July 19.
The Congress' chief whip Jairam Ramesh, said, 'Today, too, the INDIA parties demanded the prime minister's presence in the Rajya Sabha to make a statement on Manipur, to be followed by a discussion.'
A bench of Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh and Justice A Guneshwar Sharma on Friday directed, "...state authorities, specially, the home department should consider for devising mechanism/methods for providing internet services through mobile phones by whitelisting the mobile numbers on case to case basis and in a phase-wise manner."
We are a "people's court" and giving a hearing is part of the healing process, the Supreme Court said on Monday while asking the members of the bar in violence-hit Manipur to ensure no lawyer is denied access to the court proceedings in the state.
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.
'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.'
In the letter, they said as members of the committee, it is their moral and constitutional responsibility to discuss this matter with utmost urgency and the required sincerity.
Manipur Police have so far arrested five persons in connection with the May 4 parading of two tribal women in Kangpokpi district of the state, officials said on Saturday.
Representatives of the Committee on Mass Protest against Assam Rifles organised sit-ins to protest against the paramilitary force's legal notice to Republican Party of India-Athawale national secretary Maheshwar Thounaojam for harming the "reputation of the organisation".
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