Security personnel patrol in a sensitive area of Manipur.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Manipur government on Monday (November 18, 2024) constituted a two-member panel to probe a “reported confrontation” between a special commando team and protestors in the State’s restive Jiribam, killing a 20-year-old man and injuring another.
The order from Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi announcing the probe followed a mass resignation by the office-bearers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), mostly in the Jiribam district, over the prevailing “unwelcome and helpless situation”.
On Sunday (November 17, 2024) night, a mob attacked the offices of the BJP and Congress in Jiribam town close to the border with Assam, prompting the police to allegedly open fire. Khundrakpam Athouba died of gunshot wounds while 26-year-old K. Bishan was injured.
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Chief Minister N. Biren Singh chaired a meeting with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) legislators in the State’s capital Imphal, about 220 km away from Jiribam in the evening.
A BJP legislator, who attended the meeting, said the meeting was convened primarily to review the law-and-order situation. A similar meeting was also chaired by the State’s security advisor Kuldiep Singh with top police and paramilitary officers.
“I did not attend the meeting,” a Naga People’s Front (NPF) legislator told The Hinduindicating not all MLAs attended the meeting. With five MLAs, the NPF is the only BJP ally that is part of the Biren Singh government.
Earlier in the day, NPF leader and Water Resources Minister Awangbou Newmai reaffirmed his party’s support to the government. This laid to rest speculations that other allies would follow the National People’s Party in withdrawing support to the BJP-led government.
“There is no question of withdrawing support. The government is doing its best but unfortunately, it could not save lives. We appeal to people to exercise restraint and not take the law into their hands. Such acts will not solve the problem but aggravate it,” he said, condemning the renewed violence in the Jiribam area.
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Offices shut down
On Monday (November 18, 2024), the government extended the ban on Internet and mobile data in seven districts services by two days. Jiribam is not among these districts.
The curfew in three districts of Imphal Valley – Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur – was also extended.
The day also saw members of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, an influential Meitei group which announced a civil disobedience movement on Friday (November 15, 2024), defying the curfew to shut down some government offices, including the GST Bhavan and the Election Department.
The Imphal Valley was relatively calm after two days of outrage over the reported killing of six people – three women and three children – who were abducted from a relief camp by armed extremists during an encounter with CRPF personnel in the Jiribam district on November 11.
Also Read | Manipur violence: NIA registers three FIRs to probe fresh incidents of violence
Mobs vandalised or partially burned down the houses of ministers and MLAs, mostly of the BJP. Leishangthem Susindro Meitei, one of the ministers attacked, reportedly built a bunker in his house to escape from mobs. He also had an FIR lodged against a local organisation for storming his residence on Friday (November 15, 2024).
The State government reportedly handed over three Jiribam cases to the National Investigation Agency. These include the killing of a tribal woman by armed men on November 8 and the attack on the CRPF camp on November 11.
Meanwhile, the Manipur unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) expressed concern over the continued ethnic conflict and condemned the killing of women and children. It appealed to the Central and State governments to resolve the crisis at the earliest.
Published – November 18, 2024 11:56 am IST
