The assault and humiliation of two women paraded naked in a Manipur village in May sparked nationwide outrage on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the incident had shamed 140 crore Indians and the Supreme Court terming it 'simply unacceptable'.
'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.'
Tension mounted in the hills of Manipur after the May 4 video surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a group of men from the other side.
Drones are a new technology added recently to the weapons used in the violence between the two large ethnic groups -- Meitei and Kuki -- in the northeastern state, which left over 200 people dead since May last year.
'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).
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday said his government will provide a one-time assistance of Rs 1000 to those living in relief camps because of ethnic rioting in the state.
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".
The officials said that in the present environment where two communities are attacking each other, they may not find even a lawyer to defend them as all courts were within Imphal valley.
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 mob tried to storm the camp of 3rd IRB batallion in the Khangabok area to loot arms and ammunition, they 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.
'Why is it that no other institutions are attacked? Why are only educational institutions run by Christians attacked?'
A women's rally outside the Imphal residence of Union minister R K Ranjan Singh turned ugly when the protestors threw stones at it demanding that he speak in Parliament about the situation in the ethnic strife-affected state.
Parents of both the murdered youths, viral pictures of whose bodies caused widespread protests in Imphal valley for two days, on Thursday pleaded with authorities to locate the remains of their children so that the last rights of the boy and the girl can be conducted 'with the dignity they deserve'.
State information and public relations minister Dr RK Ranjan said combing operations have been launched in all districts, particularly in vulnerable areas.
Noting that Gandhi had claimed that armed forces can restore peace in the state within days if allowed, BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wondered if he wanted what his grandmother and then prime minister Indira Gandhi had done by ordering the Air Force to drop bombs in Aizawl in the 1960s.
The report urged the top court that the matter may be taken up by the petitioners and other parties with utmost sensitivity as any misinformation or rumour or even suspicion may aggravate the situation in Manipur, where things are slowly returning to normal with the concerted efforts of the central and the state governments.
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 government's assurance came amid reports of Meiteis fleeing the state following an 'advisory' by an ex-militant's association of Mizoram asking them to leave due to tension triggered by the viral video of two women being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur.
The lawlessness because of the fake picture spread like jungle fire and was one of the reasons for the state government to shut down the Internet on May 3, the officials said.
The Army, Assam Rifles, CAPFs and local police have been deployed in vulnerable places.
'The Manipur government is a government now ruled by the mob.'
The four, including the wife of the main accused, were taken 'outside the state' by a special flight, Singh said.
Altogether 45 students were injured in Manipur's Imphal Valley on Tuesday as the police fired tear gas shells and baton-charged a mob protesting against the killing of two youths who were allegedly kidnapped in July, officials said.
'We are in a dilemma if the central government supports this ethnic violence and Biren Singh.'
It asked the state government to file a fresh status report on relief, security, and rehabilitation measures to help violence-hit persons.
The talks should lead to an amicable settlement by establishment of a tripartite arrangement to accommodate Meitei, Naga and Kuki, the Kuki National Army said.
All the four accused, who were allegedly part of a mob that disrobed and paraded two women in Manipur on May 4, were remanded to 11-day police custody on Friday, the police said.
At least 25 miscreants with arms, ammunition and grenades have been rounded up by Indian Army and paramilitary forces across ethnic-strife riven Manipur, officials said on Monday.
'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.'
Kumar said the increase was due to Outer Manipur being counted twice, since polls will be held there in two phases.
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.
Governor La Ganesan and Chief Minister N Biren Singh were among the early voters in their respective constituencies of Sagolband and Heingang.
'The situation is so bad that it is not possible for me to explain in words how bad the conditions are for the common man of Manipur.'
A memorandum to visiting Union Home Minister Amit A Shah, stated: 'Paramilitary forces might have been reluctant to prevent Kuki terrorists from attacking innocent civilians,' the news agency IANS reported.
At a time when Manipur is burning, voices like Colonel Sapam's serve as a healing balm. 'These are voices that need to heard and their stories of peace and reconciliation must be retold -- over and over again.
A man who was part of the mob that paraded naked two tribal women in Kangpokpi district of Manipur and was seen dragging one of them was among four persons arrested on Thursday as the incident of May 4 drew widespread condemnation.
The curfew imposed under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) will be relaxed from 7 am to 10 am, it said.
The move could virtually put an end to the Free Movement Regime prevalent along the porous border.
The Bharat Nyay Yatra will be mostly covered by bus along with short stretches of walking.
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