Manipur crisis Citizens forum seeks President's intervention
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 02 2023: A delegation of the Manipur Citizens' Forum has handed over a memorandum to Governor Anusuiya Uikey for submission to the President of India calling for immediate intervention to end the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur.

Prior to the submission of the memorandum today, the Manipur Citizen Forum staged a sit-in protest at Palace Compound from 8 am to 10 am.

Notably, after the sit-in-protest, a team of Manipur Citizens' Forum comprising its advisors Aribam Braja-kumar Sharma, Khwairakpam Rajen Singh, Brahmacharimayum Babita Devi and Convenor Telem Dara Singh submitted the memorandum to the President of India through Governor Anusuiya Uikey at Raj Bhawan, Imphal.

Manipur crisis Citizens forum seeks Prez's intervention

During the meeting, they lauded the efforts of the Governor for paying visit to relief camps frequently and very recently sharing the pain and grief of affected families by visiting their homes.

The Governor appreciated their efforts towards bringing peace and normalcy in the State and urged them to tie up with the Government machinery to ini- tiate the peace process.

She also informed them of the continuous efforts of the State and Central Governments to end the ongoing strife at the earliest.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Manipur Citizens' Forum (MCF) has pointed out that the ongoing violence has seriously affected the lives of 33 lakh people, particularly in healthcare, education, economy and many other spheres of life.

Despite heavy deployment of both State and Central security forces to contain the violence, there is no sign of restoration of peace and displaced people returning to their original villages.

Rather, the ethnic divide between the Meiteis and Kukis is deepening with blame game between the ethnic communities as to who started first, said MCF.

It also condemned the merciless killing of the two Meitei students allegedly by Kuki terrorists and demanded prompt action to find the culprits and book them under the most stringent Acts.

MCF has also pointed out some reported reasons for the ongoing violence.

This includes drug trafficking from across the border and large scale poppy plantations in the hill areas of Kuki populated districts and massive human settlement in Reserved Forest and other classified forest areas in Kuki dominated districts.

MCF maintained that the State and Central Government should solve these issues without involving the public.