'Famine in Gaza is not a failure of logistics or aid. What is to blame is deliberate starvation caused by a brutal war.' 'Any child dying in a war zone is a vote of no confidence against humanity.'
The Manipur government has ordered the state police to conduct combing operations and sanitisation in areas bordering Imphal West district where two persons were killed and nine others injured in an attack by suspected militants, officials said.
'We are holding up in this difficult time and hope to bring her home on Thursday morning.'
Addressing the Manipur assembly during the commencement of the budget session, she said that 198 companies of central armed police forces and 140 army columns have been deployed along with state forces to maintain law and order.
'You cannot 'clear' your way to peace.' 'You need intelligence, calibrated force, impartial law enforcement, political neutrality, humanitarian returns and a sustained reconciliation plan.'
ESU coach Ngampao Kipgen, a member of the Kuki tribe, told Reuters he was forced to flee to the hills with his family after his house was burned down.
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.
'Political protection allow groups to recruit, rearm and operate with reduced operational pressure. That increases their bargaining power and their ability to destabilise.'
Around 20 MLAs belonging to the warring Meitei and Kuki communities of Manipur met in New Delhi on Tuesday for the first time since ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state 17 months ago, in a bid to hammer out a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict.
Following the violence, the authorities clamped curfew for 24 hours in the area and reduced the curfew relaxation hours in several other districts.
People belonging to the Kuki-Zo community on Saturday took out three rallies in parts of Manipur to press their demand for a separate administration and protested against the viral audio clips allegedly of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, in which certain objectionable comments were made.
In a bid to restrain the circulation of videos and images depicting violence and damage to properties in the state, the Manipur government in an order said such dissemination will be dealt with severely and booked as per law.
'We are in a dilemma if the central government supports this ethnic violence and Biren Singh.'
Asking Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, to file an updated status report, the bench said, "It should have details like rehabilitation camps, law and order and recovery of arms."
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.
Members from various opposition parties, including the Congress, sought to raise the Manipur issue immediately after the House convened and some of them shouted slogans.
The Manipur government on Sunday extended the suspension of mobile internet for two days in nine districts of the state till December 3.
The PIL said the independent expert committee should be asked to submit its report within four weeks and direction be issued for action against state agencies for dereliction of duty.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has reviewed the security situation in Manipur for the second consecutive day, directing officials to focus on restoring peace and order in the state. The situation has been volatile following protests and violence after the recovery of bodies of women and children. Shah also ordered the deployment of 5,000 paramilitary troops to assist the state government in handling the situation.
Parliament has approved a resolution to extend President's Rule in Manipur for another six months, amidst opposition protests regarding electoral roll revisions in Bihar. The extension comes after the imposition of President's Rule in February due to ongoing ethnic conflict.
A leading Kuki-Zo organisation in Manipur has demanded a judicial probe into the killing of 10 youths in a gunfight with the CRPF, raising questions about the paramilitary force's neutrality. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) also reiterated its demand for a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo community in the state, where ethnic violence between Kuki tribals and Meiteis has claimed over 250 lives since May last year. The ITLF claimed the post-mortem reports showed the youths were shot from the back, suggesting they were not engaged in a gunfight when they were killed. The organisation further alleged that CRPF personnel stationed nearby refused to intervene during an attack on Zairawn village, where a woman was killed. The ITLF has called for a political solution to the ongoing conflict, urging the Union Home Minister to consider a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo people.
'All MLAs have the same demand -- to form the next BJP government in Manipur as early as possible.'
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.
They said that such a solution must rest on the pillars of political will, inclusive dialogue, constitutional safeguards and impartial endorsement of law and order.
A fresh cycle of violence erupted in Manipur last Monday after 11 suspected militants, who allegedly attacked a police station and adjoining CRPF camp with sophisticated weapons in Manipur's Jiribam district, were killed in an exchange of fire.
The protesters torched tyres and old furniture in the middle of the road in Kwakeithel and Uripok, demanding the release of the leader. The situation remained tense on Sunday morning.
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.
Assam Rifles personnel vacated a makeshift camp in Manipur's Kamjong district on Sunday, a day after it was vandalized by a mob protesting alleged harassment and restrictions on timber transportation. An understanding was reached between the two sides after a meeting involving civil society groups and Assam Rifles officials. The incident occurred amid ongoing ethnic violence in the state.
A gunfight broke out between two groups of people in Manipur's Bishnupur district on Thursday, officials said.
Ten companies of additional central forces arrived in Assam to contain violence along the inter-state boundary, Gogoi informed, adding that so far 110 miscreants involved in the strife had been arrested by Assam Police.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday said the government was talking to both the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur to ensure lasting peace and has begun fencing the country's border with Myanmar to check infiltration.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has cancelled his election rallies in Maharashtra and is returning to Delhi due to the volatile situation in Manipur. The home minister is likely to hold a meeting to review the situation in the northeastern state, where irate mobs have set fire to the residences of several BJP and Congress legislators. The incidents follow a series of killings and abductions by militants in the state.
During the meeting, it was decided to hold consultations on a wider scale so as to arrive at a common political agenda with other groups, it said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah should tell from where do Kuki militants get rifles and ammunition, it said.
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 incident took place on September 19 at around 5:50 pm when a vehicle-based column of troops of 33 Assam Rifles was moving from its Patsoi Company Operating Base to Nambol Company Operating Base.
The incident happened when security forces launched a search operation after a Meitei farmer received gunshot wounds while working in the fields in the valley district of Bishnupur after shots were fired from the surrounding hills, they said.
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.
According to a senior officer, during the two-week deadline for surrender of arms and ammunition, a total of 990 arms were surrendered with 11,526 ammunition.
The CBI has so far registered eight cases which include two related to alleged sexual assault on women in Manipur.
