Manipur Calm But Tense: Amit Shah Cancels Maha Election Rallies, Returns To Delhi

Mumbai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday canceled his scheduled election rallies in Maharashtra and headed back to Delhi as tension escalated in Manipur’s Imphal Valley the previous night.

The Home Minister is likely to hold a meeting to review the situation in the Northeastern State, the PTI reported, quoting sources.

In light of continued tensions in the region, Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Anish Dayal Singh is scheduled to visit Manipur. A team of central security officers has also been dispatched to Manipur to assess the situation and provide assistance to the state authorities, the reports added.

Tense calm prevailed in all five districts of the Imphal Valley this morning, where indefinite curfew has been imposed and internet services suspended, a nigh after violent mobs set fire to the residences of three BJP legislators and one Congress MLA. The current wave of violence gathered steam following the recovery of six bodies, suspected to be of missing Meitei individuals allegedly abducted by Kuki militants. The bodies of the two women and a child were recovered from Barak River in Jiribam on Saturday, while three other bodies, including those of a woman and two children, were found on Friday night.

The houses of PWD Minister Govindas Konthoujam at Ningthoukhong, Hiyanglam’s BJP MLA Y Radheshyam at Langmeidong Bazar, Wangjing Tentha’s BJP MLA Paonam Brojen in Thoubal district and Khundrakpam’s Congress MLA Th Lokeshwar in Imphal East district were vandalised and partially burnt in the incidents.

The protesters also attempted to storm the ancestral home of Chief Minister N Biren Singh but were repelled by security forces. They set tyres on fire in the middle of a road in Thangmeiband area, just 200 metres away from the assembly building.

Meanwhile, the Manipur government has urged the Centre to withdraw the stringent Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which was re-introduced in some parts of the state including the violence-hit Jiribam.

A consortium of Meitei groups has also sought immediate repeal of AFSPA while demanding military action on militants within 24 hours. November 16 also saw significant demonstrations at Khwairamband Ima Keithel, Asia’s largest all-women marketplace,.