'My one recommendation would be to first quell the violence and then encourage dialogue and build the trust among the different communities.' 'This is not easy but necessary, for violence cannot be the way forward.'
Over seven months of violence severely hit businesses, schools, colleges and other institutions, besides disrupting transportation and communication networks. It also affected the agrarian sector, considered the mainstay of the state economy.
The fate of the soldier's aunt Neilam (55), brother-in-law Jamkhotang (40) and cousin Thangjam Haokip (25) still remain unknown.
'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 condemned the drone bomb attacks on civilians as acts of terrorism and vowed a firm response.
Two Central Reserve Police Force personnel also sustained injuries during the heavy exchange of fire that happened at Jakurador Karong in the Borobekra sub-division, they said.
'Look at the post mortem reports. Every body (of the 10 Kuki-Zo youth who were killed) has almost 12 bullet marks on it.' 'Why do they have to fire so much even if they wanted to kill them?' 'One or two shots would be enough to kill them. Why then they had to fire so many bullets on them?'
Security has been tightened in Manipur's Jiribam district ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's scheduled visit on Monday, with authorities imposing a ban on aerial photography using drones, officials said.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made some strong observations against the state while hearing a plea filed by Lunkhongam Haokip that he was suffering from piles and tuberculosis and was not taken to hospital by jail officials despite having severe backache.
'These are just to deflect from the leaked audio tapes of the chief minister which prove his culpability in the ethnic violence against the Kukis that has gripped the state for more than 17 months.'
Meira Paibis, a collective of Meitei women, on Friday staged sit-in demonstrations across five districts of Imphal Valley in protest against the alleged gang rape of a 37-year-old woman in Churachandpur on May 3, when the ongoing ethnic violence started.
Another case of sexual assault has come to light in Manipur after a 37-year-old married woman from Churachandpur district alleged she was gang-raped by a group of men while fleeing her burning house on May 3, the day on which the ethnic strife began in the northeastern state, police said.
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.
A while later, 'Meira Paibis' -- civilian group of Meitei women -- gathered at the spot, and demanded that the weapons be handed over to them, he said.
Singh said concerned with increasing deforestation and setting up of new villages by illegal immigrants, a Cabinet sub-committee was formed in February 2023 after a cabinet meeting attended by two Kuki ministers Letpao Haokip and Nemcha Kipgen.
'They only bring pieces. Dialogue is the only way forward.' 'We should get people who have influence to bring the community leaders to sit across the table and talk.' 'Otherwise, our adversaries across the borders will add fuel to the fire. Let's not give them a chance.'
The four, including the wife of the main accused, were taken 'outside the state' by a special flight, Singh said.
The governor was on her way to visit two relief camps at ECA Church Songgel and ECA Church Tuibong in the district where hundreds of Kukis have taken refuge since the ethnic strife broke out in the state on May 3, 2023, the police added.
Ahead of the visit, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called for an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence in Manipur.
The Congress said the PM has neither found the time nor even had the inclination to visit the state for even a few hours.
In a statement, the ITLF said in view of a request of the home minister, the group will finalise an alternative location, in consultation with the people, for burial of bodies of ethnic violence victims belonging to the Kuki-Zo community which are lying in Imphal.
Days after cash and ornaments valued at over Rs 2.25 crore were found missing from an Axis Bank branch in Manipur's Churachandpur, criminals targeted another bank in Kangpokpi district and looted computers and other electronic items worth nearly Rs 1 crore, officials said on Friday.
'Everyone's voice must be heard. We will be talking to both Kukis and Meiteis'
The agitated mobs managed to partially torched the newly set-up open gym at PT Sports complex at New Lamka which Biren Singh is slated to inaugurate on Friday afternoon, police said.
The force also asked the Churachandpur police to disseminate the inputs to the SP of Kakching district and higher authorities so that "preemptive action can be taken to avert any kind of adverse incident".
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.
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.
'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?'
Over 25 people were injured in clashes as Indian Army and Rapid Action Force personnel fired tear gas shells in Kangvai and Phougakchao areas in Bishnupur district on Thursday to stop processions from proceeding to the proposed burial site violating restrictions on gatherings.
Maliwal met the mother and husband of the two victims who had been paraded naked, molested and one of them was gangraped. The mother of the woman who was gangraped also lost her husband and son who were trying to save the victim from the sexual assault, the statement said.
Hours before the clashes, a planned mass burial of Kuki-Zomi people killed in Manipur's ethnic violence was stalled after the state's High Court on Thursday morning ordered status quo to be maintained at the proposed burial site in Churachandpur district.
A group of people torched the office building of the Range Forest Officer in Tuibong area around midnight, and several fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, they said.
"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.
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
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.
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.
A large number of arms and ammunition of the police have allegedly been looted by the rioters during the violence.
State security advisor Kuldiep Singh said that lawful action will be taken against those displaying firearms at the parade.
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.
'We are not secessionists, we want to coexist with our countrymen but not on the terms that will strip us off our dignity and a right to peaceful existence.'
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