Three abandoned houses were burned down, and weapons were snatched from security guards in separate incidents Imphal in the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday.
“Unidentified miscreants set on fire three abandoned houses in the New Lambulane area of Imphal West district on Sunday afternoon,” a senior district police official confirmed. No one was injured in the incident and fire tenders were able to douse the flames before spreading to other buildings.
Security forces had to fire several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse a crowd that had gathered and wanted to enter the area. New Lambulane is one of the few Kuki-dominated localities in Meitei majority Imphal Valley.
Residents from the area had fled to Kuki-dominated hill areas in the initial days of the ethnic clashes that started in May.
In another incident, a group of unidentified men snatched two AK series assault rifles and a carbine from the security guards of former state health director K Rajo in the Sagolband Bijoy Govinda area of Imphal West district. The incident took place around 2am on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}In another incident, a group of unidentified men snatched two AK series assault rifles and a carbine from the security guards of former state health director K Rajo in the Sagolband Bijoy Govinda area of Imphal West district. The incident took place around 2am on Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}“It will be nearly four months since clashes started, but violence hasn’t stopped. Just two days prior to the Assembly session, two incidents were reported in the Capital Imphal itself. It shows how the government machinery has completely failed,” said Manipur Congress chief K Meghachandra.
The opposition Congress is upset that the government has decided to convene the Assembly session only for one day on August 29. The previous session had ended on March 4, two months prior to the start of clashes.
The 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs in the 60-member House, including seven from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have already stated that they won’t be attending the session due to concerns about their safety in Imphal.
“Congress legislature party chief and former chief minister O Ibobi Singh had demanded that the session should be held for five days so that elaborate discussions could be held on the present crisis. But the business advisory committee, which included chief minister N Biren Singh, declined,” said Meghachandra.
The Congress chief said that according to the information received from the Assembly secretariat, the proceedings for the session would include obituary references, tabling of the business advisory committee’s calendar and presentation of government bills, if any.
“We wanted a proper discussion on the present situation in the assembly, which is the best platform to find a solution. But it is unfortunate that the state government is bent on murdering democracy and doesn’t want the opposition to have any say inside the House,” Meghachandra said.
Manipur health minister and government spokesperson Sapam Ranjan Singh didn’t respond to calls seeking information about the session.
The ethnic clashes between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities in Manipur has claimed over 160 lives and displaced more than 50,000 persons since May 3. While incidents of violence have abated a bit, killings, shootouts, arson and weapon snatching keep happening sporadically.