CM, 29 MLAs reiterate demands tn Governor
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, September 08 2024: For the second time in 48 hours, 29 ruling MLAs led by chief minister N Biren on Sunday met Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya and reiterated their demands in the form of a memorandum handed over the state's constitutional head for conveyance to the Centre.

The government took the decision following recent aggravation of the unrest situation, especially after use of drones to drop bombs and long range rocket targeting Meetei settlements in different parts of the state.

The escalation left the state in chaos with public anger rising every day.

The CM convened a joint meeting of ruling MLAs on Thursday but deferred the same as substantial number of MLAs were conspicuously absent for the meeting.

Consequently, another session was convened on Saturday at the office secretariat of the chief minister, following which, CM Biren alone went to Raj Bhawan and met the Governor.

Saturday's meeting was attended by 28 ruling MLAs including the CM while two to three cabinet ministers were absent.

On Sunday too, the CM convened another meeting at his office secretariat and the CM along with the rest of the MLAs visited Raj Bhawan at 11 am to submit the memorandum reiterating their demands.

Among others, the memorandum called upon the Centre to take steps to protect territorial integrity of Manipur.

Amid a fresh bout of violence, N Biren appealed to the Centre to take steps to protect territorial integrity of the state and that the central government should not to give in to the demand for a separate administration raised by Kuki Zo groups.

In the memorandum to Acharya, Biren said the Centre should ensure peace in Manipur and give adequate power to the elected state government and also called for revoking the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, signed by the Centre, the Manipur government and two conglomerates of Kuki militant outfits - Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People's Front (UPF).

The pact was signed in 2008 and extended periodically thereafter.

The Raj Bhavan said in a statement confirmed that Biren Singh called on the Governor along with his cabinet colleagues and submitted the memorandum.

However, neither Raj Bhavan nor the chief minister shared the contents of the memorandum.

The statement said that besides over 20 MLAs, Biren Singh was accompanied by assembly speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh during the meeting that lasted about an hour.

According to an IANS report, chief minister N Biren Singh briefed Governor Lakshman about the prevailing situation in the state.

The report quoted source close to the Chief Minister's Office as saying that N Biren proposed some steps to deal with the ongoing ethnic hostilities in the state.

"The Governor would forward the memorandum, submitted by the Chief Minister, to the Central government for taking the necessary course of action", the Source told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

The meeting happened amid fresh violence in the state, in which at least five people were killed in Jiribam district on Saturday.

According to police, militants entered the house of a person and shot him dead in his sleep.

Following the murder, a heavy exchange of fire broke out between members of the warring communities, leading to the deaths of four armed men.

Ethnically diverse Jiribam which was earlier largely untouched by the ethnic clashes in Imphal Valley and adjoining hills erupted in violence after a 59-year-old man belonging to the Meetei community was killed by suspected Kuki militants in June.

Amid the rising violence, BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh, last week requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to withdraw 60,000 central forces from the state claiming "they are not yielding peace".

Imo Singh wrote to the Home Minister stating that the presence of around 60,000 central forces in Manipur "is not yielding peace, thus it's better to remove such forces who are mostly present as mute spectators".

"If the presence of central forces cannot stop the violence, it is better to remove them and allow the state forces to take charge and bring peace in Manipur," the MLA had said in the letter.

Congress Lok Sabha MP from Manipur Angomcha Bimol Akoijam on Saturday asked the Central government to take responsibility for the deaths and destruction occurred in the state which has been in the grip of an ethnic unrest for the past 16 months now.

Bimol Akoijam, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Inner Manipur seat where he defeated BJP's Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh earlier this year, said that despite 60,000 security personnel deployed in the state since the ethnic violence broke out in May last year, the situation has not improved even as Director General of Police, Manipur, Rajiv Singh earlier said that the state police are in touch with the Director General National Security Guard (NSG) and other experts to seek their support about the recent attacks on civilians by the militants using drones and sophisticated weapons.

The Manipur Police chief said that the bombing using drones are new development in Manipur and Manipur Police has already through social media said that it has been escalated and the police are taking it very seriously.

"I have personally spoken to everybody in Delhi.

I have also spoken to DG NSG and his team.

Other experts are coming in, and we have formed a high-level committee to look into the drone attack and related other issues," the DGP had said.

Clashes between Meetei and Kukis left over 200 people dead and thousands homeless since May last year.

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