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.
Hours before a planned mass burial of Kuki-Zomi people killed in Manipur's ethnic violence, the state's high court on Thursday ordered that status quo be maintained at the proposed burial site in Churachandpur district, while ITLF, an apex tribal body also said it was postponing burial service plans following requests from the Union home minister.
Modi slammed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as the most directionless the country has ever seen and cited reviled names, such as East India Company and Indian Mujahideen, to assert that people cannot be misled merely by the use of the country's name.
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.
Unconfirmed reports said that the CM had typed out a resignation letter but was persuaded by his supporters to tear it up.
A bench of Justices SK Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said the Centre cannot preclude reservation from being extended to women in civic bodies by saying it doesn't apply to tribal areas.
At least eight persons have been killed and 18 injured, including two security personnel, in Manipur's Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts following continuous gunbattle between Kukis and Meiteis over the last 72 hours, officials said on Thursday.
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 curfew was imposed this noon and covers Porompat and Sawombung subdivisions of Imphal East district, said an order issued by the district magistrate. It will continue till further directions.
'The Naga Hills region, Nagaland and Manipur, have had the most uncaring and corrupt state governments with little to show on the ground despite the nation's highest per capita development expenditure,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday reviewed the situation in Manipur with Chief Minister N Biren Singh and top officials, even as the Centre dispatched additional security forces and anti-riot vehicles to maintain peace there, sources said.
The consequences are dire as essential medical treatments, including dialysis, and medicines for cancer and anti-AIDS drugs remain out of reach for those in desperate need.
The Zomi-Kuki organisation also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention for a permanent solution to the ongoing ethnic strife
Union Home Minister Amit Shah should tell from where do Kuki militants get rifles and ammunition, it said.
Shah, who is closely monitoring the situation in Manipur, had a telephonic conversation with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who briefed him in the morning about the prevailing scene in the state and steps being taken to restore normalcy.
The people of Oting in Mon district in the northeastern state said they will erect a monolith in memory of the 14 people on the first anniversary of the killings.
The Assam Rifles has a skeletal presence of women and the officials feel that they are not trained for a law-and-order situation.
Close to 2,000 passengers are stranded at the premises of the airport, the terminal building of which can handle only 750 passengers -- 250 for arrival and 500 for departure -- at a time.
In most parts of the landlocked northeastern state, items such as rice, potato, onion and egg besides LPG cylinders and petrol are selling at rates much above the ones fixed by the government.
The union home minister is reportedly concerned over the shifting of violence and civil unrest from peripheral areas to districts in the Imphal valley.
Bimola Thounaojam, the mother of an 18-year-old youth, has been trying frantically trying to work out how to get her son admitted to a college outside Manipur without having to go through the usual net-based admission procedure.
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.
"I fear I won't perform well in the class 10 board examination next year, which might affect my dreams of enrolling in a good school in Imphal," Karam said.
'We failed as a country because those who should have been there to say goodbye did not show up.'
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The ruling alliance also has some smaller parties like Republican Party of India-Athawale, Asom Gana Parishad, Mizo National Front, National People's Party, Naga People's Front, Pattali Makkal Katchi and Bodoland People's Front, which have one seat each, totalling seven seats.
Refuting the opposition's claim that Manipur 'is burning', a senior government functionary said on Thursday that no killing has happened in the state since July 18 and asserted that peace and normalcy will be restored soon through ongoing talks with the two warring communities -- Meiteis and Kukis.
Uber Technologies said it is doing a fresh round of recruitment for its India tech centres and is planning to hire 500 more tech employees by December. The app-based mobility and delivery company has a 1,000-member tech team across its centres in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The firm said the hiring plan is a testament to Uber's commitment to India, and its recognition of the engineering talent in the country. Uber hired 250 engineers to its India teams in 2021.
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.
'The amount of warmth I received from Aamir Sir during the shooting of Laal Singh Chaddha is very difficult to describe in words.'
In his message to the people on the eve of 58th Statehood Day, Ravi, the interlocutor for the Naga peace process, said the essence of India is its unity in diversity, on the demand for integration of Naga inhabited areas in other states, especially Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's convoy was on Thursday stopped by the Manipur police at Bishnupur, about 20 kilometres from Imphal, officials said.
'Sepoy K Ashuli displayed nerves of steel, exemplary courage, fearlessness under enemy fire, unparalleled devotion to duty and camaraderie of the highest order in keeping with the finest traditions of the Indian Army.'
After Chief Minister Stalin moved a resolution, even as Ravi was speaking, that the speech was read, the governor walked out of the assembly.
Eight Congress MLAs skipped the proceedings, defying a party whip.
Protest rallies erupted in Imphal with thousands of students marching towards the centre of the city, sloganeering against the kidnapping and killing of two youths for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.
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.
'People only knew about the hundreds of people he had saved and his Ashoka Chakra.' 'I came to know about this beautiful life that he had lived, that was so much more than the way he died.' 'I was interested in that being.'
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 unfolding events indicate a dangerous internal security situation in Manipur and the region. It can have external ramifications also.'
