Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday warned people that they would have to face consequences if they did not stop violence in the state, The Indian Express reported.
He made the statement while commenting on an incident of firing in the Imphal West district on Sunday night, in which an Indian Army soldier was injured.
“I’m going to have a review meeting on security and how we can prevent it [such attacks],” Singh said. “This kind of thing has to be stopped immediately...otherwise they will face the consequences. And I also appeal to the Meitei people who are with arms not to attack anything.”
The Army said that the incident occurred at the Chingmang village, where armed miscreants engaged in unprovoked firing. “Army Columns resorted to controlled retaliatory fire keeping in view presence of villagers in the area,” an official statement read.
The injured soldier was taken to the military hospital in Leimakhong and is now said to be stable.
Manipur has been on the boil since May 3 due to ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities. The violence has left more than 100 persons dead, over 300 injured and thousands displaced.
On Monday, a delegation of Meitei MLAs and ministers met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at his office in Delhi. They discussed the need to stop violence and to protect the state’s territorial integrity at all costs.
The MLAs and ministers called for stringent action against insurgent groups that “violated ground rules” in the state. They demanded that suspension of operations agreements signed with such groups should be withdrawn.
The Meitei MLAs and ministers also demanded that National Highway 39, which has been blocked since May 3 at Kangpokpi, be reopened.
‘Modi, BJP interested in prolonging conflict’: Congress
As tensions remain high, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Organisation KC Venugopal on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party were interested in prolonging the conflict in Manipur, rather than finding a solution.
The Congress leader asked whether 50 days into the conflict, Modi will “fly away to foreign lands, without uttering a single word on the ongoing crisis”. He was referring to the prime minister’s scheduled visit to the United States and Egypt from June 20 to June 25.
“Hundreds dead, thousands rendered homeless, countless churches and places of worship destroyed, and a state administration that is part of the problem, not the solution,” Venugopal said on Twitter. “To make matters even worse, the violence is now spreading to Mizoram as well.”
The Congress leader asked when Modi would call for peace, and seek accountability from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Biren Singh.
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