Manipur Violence: A minister said in Imphal today (June 11) that more than 50,000 people displaced by caste violence in Manipur are currently living in about 349 relief camps across the state. State Information and Public Relations Minister Dr. RK Ranjan said that a search operation has been started in all the districts especially in sensitive areas.
He said that 53 weapons and 39 bombs were recovered during the operation. Ranjan, who is also the government spokesperson, said a road map has been prepared for the education of students affected due to caste conflicts and will be made public soon.
“A total of 50,698 people displaced by ethnic violence are currently taking shelter in 349 relief camps,” an official statement quoted the minister as saying.
District and cluster nodal officers have been asked to oversee the relief centers opened especially for women, elderly and children. A price control mechanism has been put in place to check the rise in prices of essential commodities, he said, adding that various commodities are being brought into the state through NH-37.
Since the violence broke out in early May, 35,000 metric tonnes of construction material, fuel and essential commodities have been moved to Manipur in 2,376 trucks, the statement said. Ranjan said that out of the existing 242 bank branches, a total of 198 are now operational and the rest would be made operational at the earliest.
Significantly, in the beginning of May, a large number of weapons were looted from police stations when caste violence broke out in the state. Both Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have appealed to the people to lay down their arms.
In all, 990 arms and 13,526 rounds of ammunition have been handed over to the government, the statement said. The army and paramilitary forces in collaboration with the state police are carrying out search operations to rescue the communities and restore peace in the state.
Meanwhile, a drop box to return weapons snatched by security forces installed at the home of a BJP MLA from Imphal East has become a popular attraction for local youth, who have turned anonymously to deposit 130 weapons, including sophisticated automatic rifles. availed the facility. ,
A large poster in a covered shed outside the house of L Susindro Meitei, a minister in the Manipur government, reads in English and Meitei, ‘Please drop your snatched weapons here’. Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organized in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meites constitute about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and mostly live in the Imphal Valley. The tribal Nagas and Kukis constitute 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
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