Failure to resolve conflict invites people's ire
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 23 2023: Protesting against the prolonged failure of the Central and State machinery to resolve the conflict, the Central Women's Committee, Imphal staged a protest demonstration with the formation of a human chain from Moirangkhom to Singjamei today.

The protest was organised in collaboration with meira paibi associations and local organisations from Moirangkhom to Singjamei stretch.

Speaking by the sideline of the protest, Leimapokpam Shantibala shared disappointment that the Prime Minister had not uttered a single word for the lives lost, homes torched and thousands displaced.

She questioned if the Prime Minister does not give much weight to all the atrocities that have occurred so far since violence erupted on May 3 .

Maintaining that if the peace rally of May 3 had been boycotted then the conflict could have been easily contained, she further pointed out that alleged gun-toting and weapon bearing rallyists were roaming around freely on the day but when unarmed womenfolk (meira paibis) stage a rally then they are beaten and fired at with tear gas shells and guns.

"The womenfolk are merely expressing their dissent and sloganeering but Central security personnel use force on the unarmed women", she asserted.

Saying that the Central forces have been deployed to contain the violence, she rued that however the Central and State Government have not taken up any definitive steps to bring down violence in the most vulnerable regions.

Thus, she appealed to the State and Central Government to restore peace in Manipur.

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