Curfew was lifted for a few hours on Monday morning, and life was slowly returning to some degree of normalcy in Manipur, which has been ravaged by violence, as people came out of their homes in state capital Imphal to buy essentials. was gone, said officials.
According to PTI, drones and helicopters proceeded under close surveillance while the Army and Assam Rifles conducted flag marches in various areas that have been rocked by ethnic violence in recent days.
In response to the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community, tribals on Wednesday staged protests in ten hill districts of the state.
Meites represent about 53% of Manipur’s population and live for the most part in the Imphal Valley. The other 40% of the population consists of Adivasis, Nagas and Kukis, who live in the hilly districts.
Officials said that so far 23,000 people have been rescued from the violence-hit areas and taken to army posts.
In Imphal West district, curfew imposed on Wednesday after violence broke out was relaxed to allow people to buy essentials from 5 am to 8 am. People turned out in large numbers to buy vegetables, food and medicines.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh said he was grateful to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his monitoring and support in de-escalating the situation in the violence-hit state.
“I am in constant touch with the home minister’s office to monitor the situation and ensure that there is no further violence in the state,” he added.
“The paramilitary and state forces are doing an exemplary job in controlling the violence and bringing back normalcy in the state. I also appreciate the cooperation of the people of the state,” he added.
On Sunday, Governor Anusuiya Uike chaired the meeting along with Operational Commander Ashutosh Sinha and Security Advisor Kuldeep Singh. In the meeting, both the officers told the Governor about the solution to the problem.
Besides this, the state government appointed IAS officer Vineet Joshi as the new chief secretary and brought him back from central deputation to New Delhi.
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