Fresh violence was reported in Manipur’s Imphal after women protestors blocked both sides of a main road in the Ghari area. The women protestors burnt tyres during the protests, prompting cops to take action.
The Manipur armed police, Army and rapid action battalion rushed to the spot to quell the protesters. In an operation, they doused the fire and brought the situation under control. A flag march was conducted in several areas to control the protestors.
Manipur state has been witnessing ethnic clashes since May 3 between majority the Meiteis, concentrated in Imphal valley, and the Kukis, occupying the hills. Over 160 people have been killed in the violence so far. The violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.
Several incidents of arson, loot, violence and mob-build-up have been reported from various parts of the state. When the state was trying to return to normalcy, a video dated May 4 surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a group of men from the other side. The video has stoked a nationwide outrage and the Congress has demanded that President’s rule should be imposed in the violence-hit state.Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident. The 26-second video capturing the ordeal of the two tribal women surfaced a day after ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state on May 3.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday questioned the timing of the release of a viral video, just a day before the commencement of Parliament’s monsoon session and claimed that politics was behind the leak. He claimed that rape incidents happen less in the Northeast, especially in Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the Manipur incident has shamed 140 crore Indians, vowing strict action against the accused. The Prime Minister, in his first remarks on Manipur since ethnic violence broke out in the state over two months ago, assured that the “law will act with its full might” and the guilty won’t be spared.Hitting out at PM Modi, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said after more than 1800 hours of an “incomprehensible and unforgivable silence”, the prime minister finally spoke on Manipur for a sum total of 30 seconds.
