Manipur Violence: Amit Shah To Meet Meitei, Kuki Leaders, Visit Riot-Hit Areas Today

New Delhi: Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, who is on a peace mission in Manipur where ethnic violence erupted earlier this month, on Tuesday will meet with political and civil society leaders from the Meitei and Kuki communities and visit Churachandpur, where some of the worst clashes took. Shah arrived in Imphal last night with the home secretary and met with chief minister N Biren Singh, some of his cabinet colleagues, and intelligence and security officials on Monday night to review the situation. "The meeting agreed on a number of relief measures and steps to increase supplies in this north-eastern state to bring down prices of essential items which have risen since the strife started earlier this month," news agency PTI quoted sources as saying.

PTI sources said Kuki leaders and MLAs, many of whom had gone to neighbouring states, may be brought in for talks with him. Kukis have been asking for a separate administration for districts they inhabit, or else they have also demanded President’s rule to be imposed on the state.

Manipur, afflicted by ethnic conflict for nearly a month witnessed a sudden spurt in clashes and firing between militants and security forces on Sunday, after a relative lull for several weeks. The death toll from clashes since ethnic rioting began on May 3 has gone up to 80 according to officials.

Army and paramilitary personnel have been conducting combing operations in the Imphal valley and surrounding districts, an official said. The Army operation is aimed at confiscating illegal caches of arms, he said.

Ethnic clashes, first broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

Around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces, had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the northeastern state.