The members of the peace committee include the chief minister, a few ministers, MPs, MLAs, leaders from different political parties and civil society groups.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has convened an all-party meeting on June 24 in New Delhi to discuss the situation in Manipur which has witnessed sporadic violence since May 3.
'I have been asking whether the chief minister (N Biren Singh) is in charge of the situation in Manipur.' 'Law and order is a state subject and chief minister is a Constitutional authority. Why did he follow the diktat, if at all there is a diktat from the Union government?'
The Kuki-Zo Council called for a 13-hour shutdown in Manipur's hill areas on Tuesday, demanding an investigation into the death of 11 people in a clash with security forces in Jiribam. The shutdown, which began at 5 am, saw schools, markets, and public transport remain closed. Various Kuki-Zo organizations, including the Kuki Students' Organisation, the Zomi Students' Federation, and the Hmar Students' Association, demanded a probe into the incident, accusing the Central Reserve Police Force of "treacherous murder." The Hmar Village Volunteers, who were identified by the Kuki-Zo groups as the victims, condemned the incident and called for intervention from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
In violence-hit Manipur, the general buzz associated with elections and the related paraphernalia of posters, banners and rallies are missing but it is the presence of these brown boxes with pictures of guns that is symbolic of the strife-ridden society struggling to return to normalcy.
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.
Rumour-mongering has largely affected the process to calm down the situation and bring peace in troubled Manipur.
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 Indian Army has launched a massive search operation for a man who went missing from the fringe areas of the Imphal Valley two days ago. Laishram Kamalbabu Singh, a works supervisor for a contractor working with the Military Engineering Services (MES) in Leimakhong Military Station, disappeared after leaving home on Monday afternoon to report for work. The Army is using all its resources, including tracker dogs, drones, and aerial platforms, to locate Singh. The incident has led to tensions in the area, with hundreds of people from the Meitei community demanding information about Singh's whereabouts.
The incident, as reported, indicates a "lapse" on the part of the law enforcing agencies and the forces deployed to ensure peace and law and order in the state, the rights panel said in a statement.
'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.'
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Manipur government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file reports elaborating on the status of probe and the charge sheets filed in cases of ethnic-violence to help it take a decision on whether the trials can commence in Assam or be undertaken in Manipur.
Chief Minister Zoramthanga, deputy CM Tawnluia, ministers, and MLAs of the state cutting across party lines took part in the massive protest rally in Aizawl.
Shops and markets have been opened in the morning while vehicles run on the roads in Churachandpur town where the maximum protests and violence took place on Friday and Saturday, officials said.
'...through the will of the people and commitment of leaders.' 'It may not happen today or tomorrow, but it will happen.'
Responding to media queries on the development, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that "such interference in India's internal affairs is unacceptable, and reflects a colonial mindset".
'Everyone's voice must be heard. We will be talking to both Kukis and Meiteis'
The situation remained calm but tense in Manipur's Imphal Valley, where an indefinite curfew has been imposed and internet services suspended following violent protests after the discovery of the bodies of six persons, three women and children each, allegedly abducted and killed by militants in Jiribam.
The Supreme Court on Monday described the violence perpetrated against women in strife-torn Manipur as of "unprecedented magnitude" and refused to consider a plea on similar alleged incidents in opposition-ruled states, such as West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Kerala.
'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.'
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.
The house of Manipur PWD Minister Konthoujam Govindas in Bishnupur district was vandalised on Wednesday by a group of people claiming that the government in the strife-torn state is not doing enough to protect locals from militants belonging to another community, officials said.
At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot to contain the situation.
He also held another meeting with a delegation of civil society organisations as part of his outreach and they expressed their commitment to peace and assured that they would work for restoring normalcy in Manipur.
India on Friday described a United States State Department report citing alleged incidents of human rights violations including in Manipur as 'deeply biased' and said it reflects a poor understanding of India and it attach no value to it.
'Hygiene is very bad, there is no medicine and there is no electricity.' 'I fear that there will be a breakout of some disease.'
'Today, the biggest challenge is the large number of weapons that are out within both communities. Related to this, is the minds of both communities. Today, there's so much (hatred) against each other. '
'The kind of situation we are seeing...we don't believe that this can happen in a settled democracy like India'
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 unfolding events indicate a dangerous internal security situation in Manipur and the region. It can have external ramifications also.'
'...We should first look at and acknowledge what we have done to ourselves.' 'To not do so opens us to the accusation of rank hypocrisy and also reduces the stature of our globetrotting peaceniks,' asserts Aakar Patel.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in strife-torn Manipur on Monday night to try restore peace by hammering out a solution between the warring communities.
Fresh clashes broke out between people belonging to Zomi and Hmar tribes in Manipur's Churachandpur district, hours after a peace settlement was reached between the apex bodies of the two communities. The Zomi Students' Federation imposed a shutdown in the district after a group of men tried to take down a flag of a Zomi militant outfit. Several persons were injured in the clashes. Meanwhile, MLAs and tribal organisations appealed for peace, urging the administration to take necessary measures to restore law and order.
The Army, Assam Rifles, CAPFs and local police have been deployed in vulnerable places.
Most of the Kuki MLAs irrespective of their party affiliations are unlikely to attend the Manipur assembly session slated to be called from August 21 in view of the continued ethnic violence, according to leaders from the community.
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.
'The Centre prevaricates on the question of effecting a change of state-level leadership or on the imposition of President's rule in the state.'
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.
The situation in minority-dominated Lilong Chingjao area in Manipur's Thoubal district, where four villagers were gunned down by unidentified assailants, remained calm but tense on Tuesday as additional security forces were deployed, an official said.
Despite the fact that the number of Manipuri women voters at more than 10.57 lakh, outnumber males (9.90 lakh) and are known to take the lead when it comes to civil society movements, women find it difficult to rise in electoral politics against the tradition of male dominance.
