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New Delhi, February 3
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday said the Centre is set to take “some important decisions” in the interests of the people of the state.
He said this after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah here where he discussed “matters of paramount importance” concerning Manipur.
Later he met senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs at the North Block here and said he had “a productive discussion on the strategic measures undertaken for fostering peace in Manipur”.
Singh met Shah as sporadic ethnic violence continued in Manipur.
“Today, I had the esteemed privilege of meeting with the Hon’ble Union Home Minister, Shri @AmitShah Ji in New Delhi. Engaging in a profound exchange, we discussed matters of paramount importance concerning our state.
“Rest assured, the Government of India is set to take some important decisions in the interests of the people of Manipur,” Singh wrote on X.
The Chief Minister, however, did not indicate what the decisions could be.
Ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023 after a tribal solidarity march was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Since then over 200 people have been killed in the continuing violence.
While a section of Kukis have demanded a separate administration or separation from the Manipur government, the Meitei groups are dead against it and warned legislators against any such design and asked them to foil such attempts.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
Rest belong to other communities.
A series of confidence-building measures were taken and that include constitution of a judicial inquiry committee, financial aids to the victims and sending additional troops.
Shah had visited the state for four consecutive days in his efforts to calm down the warring communities.
However, intermittent violence continued. The government on November 13 also extended by five years the ban imposed on nine Meitei extremist groups and their associate organisations, which mostly operate in Manipur, for their anti-national activities, and launching fatal attacks on security forces.
On November 29, a peace pact was signed by the government with Imphal valley-based oldest terror outfit United National Liberation Front (UNLF), a group dominated by the majority Meitei community, under which the insurgent faction has agreed to renounce violence.
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