Centre approves ₹102 crore package for those displaced in Manipur
Since May 3, the northeastern state has been roiled by ethnic clashes largely between the Meitei and Kuki communities.
The Centre has approved a ₹101.75 crore relief package for displaced citizens in Manipur where the situation remains peaceful with no fresh incidents of violence in the past 48 hours, state security adviser Kuldiep Singh said on Thursday.
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Since May 3, the northeastern state has been roiled by ethnic clashes largely between the Meitei and Kuki communities. At least 102 people have died, 300 injured and nearly 40,000 displaced, with 2,000 houses and shops burnt.
Singh, a former Central Reserve Police Force chief, said that last week, Union home minister Amit Shah had directed the Manipur government to send a request to the Union home ministry seeking relief for the displaced citizens. During his four-day visit to the state, Shah had met different Kuki and Meitei groups, civil society organisations, and groups of citizens.
“The situation in Manipur remained peaceful and under control,” Singh said.
On June 1, during the last day of his visit to Manipur, Shah had urged people surrender arms and warned of strict action against those who failed to do so. This came after mobs from various communities broke into armouries of different police stations and fled with around 3,500 guns and 500,000 ammunition.
Singh said that in the last 24 hours, security personnel recovered 27 weapons, 245 ammunitions and 41 bombs at Porompat police station area in Imphal East district, while one gun and two bombs were recovered in Bishnupur. The total recoveries by police until Thursday evening were 896 arms, 11,763 ammunitions and 200 bombs .
In all, since Shah’s appeal, 144 weapons have been recovered, most of them from Imphal East(102 weapons), Tengnoupal(35 weapons), Imphal West(2) and Thoubal(5). Singh 18 weapons were from the international border town of Moreh and that the most common arms recovered were self-loading rifles, carbines, AK 47s and grenades.
The Indian Army is also conducting combing operations across at least different 11 districts and using drones and quadcopters because of the terrain.
“Our combing operation is based on intelligence inputs. These were recovered from places where people had not surrendered. The combing operation will continue whenever we receive information about the weapons,” said an officer who is privy to the operation.
Singh said that movement of essential items along National Highway 37 was continuing. “294 empty vehicles have left Imphal for Jiribam today. A total of 220 loaded vehicles have left Noney and 198 loaded tankers and trucks have left Jiribam today,” he said.
The movement of vehicles on the NH 37 (Silchar-Imphal) is important against the backdrop of many groups blocking parts of National Highway 2 (Dimapur-Imphal section of NH2) within the state.
“Senior officers have visited and are camping in vulnerable areas. Strict security measures are taken up in all vulnerable areas. Further, combined team of state and central forces have intensified combing operations in many parts of the state,” Singh added.
Clashes first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal Kuki groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. The authorities quickly clamped a curfew and suspended internet, pumping in additional security forces to force a break in the spiraling clashes. Internet is still not back in the state.
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To bring normalcy, the Centre sent in personnel from the Indian Army, CRPF, Assam Rifles, and Border Security Force. They are working with the Manipur police under an inter-agency unified command, headed by Singh.
In a state where ethnic divisions often drive a wedge between communities, the restoration of peace is an important step, one that needs to be augmented by the recovery of weapons stolen during the riots. The government should continue to institute peace-building measures to bridge the ethnic divide, and remain on alert for any attempts to ratchet up violence.
