Guwahati: Amid the ongoing violent protest across Imphal valley, Manipur chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has called for the support of public and civil society groups in restoring peace and normalcy in the state.
Pointing out that that the present unrest has brought hardships to daily wage earners and disrupted the academic environment of the children in the state, the chief minister who met public leaders from different localities of Imphal valley said, “The government alone cannot bring peace unless the public and the civil society organisations and all the stakeholders come to the negotiating table to bring peace and a solution to all issues in the state.”
He also said that the government has taken cabinet decisions to absorb the parents of the children killed in the unfortunate Tronglaobi incident into state government services, considering that the parents are said to be working in different places. He clarified that the government decided to absorb them into the state government services only on humanitarian ground on its own.
The chief minister also stressed that the government will continue to put all efforts to ensure that the culprits of those involved in killing the children are arrested at the earliest.
Manipur home minister Govindas Konthoujam said that the government has been tolerating all democratic and non-violent demonstrations so far, and that the chief minister has even met different groups of representatives that came to the chief minister’s secretariat.
He also informed that some individuals who identified themselves as COCOMI members submitted a memorandum containing seven questions before the government. He said that the government has also invited COCOMI to discuss all their grievances.
Asserting that safeguarding all indigenous communities of the state is a commitment of the state government, the home minister reiterated that the government will not tolerate any form of terrorism including narco-terrorism with unlawful possession of arms and ammunition that terrorises the common people.
He claimed that the Government of India has already set a target to end all forms of terrorism in the Northeast by 2029.
Hundreds of protesters in Imphal clashed with security forces on Saturday after being stopped from marching to the chief minister’s residence. They were demanding justice for two children killed in a recent attack and permanent peace in Manipur.
More than 20 protesters were injured in the clashes.
Tensions escalated in some areas as protesters attempted to breach barricades, with some throwing stones and the security forces using tear gas to disperse the crowds in places including Keishampat, Lamlong, Ima Keithel and Singjamei.
The police said that six persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in “violence and disruption of public order and peace in the greater Imphal area”. But it was unclear if the police was referring to the incident on Saturday.
A delegation of protesters was later allowed to meet chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh and submitted a memorandum outlining their demands.
Following the meeting, Mr Singh also appealed to the family of the two children killed on April 7 in Tronglaobi to accept their bodies that have remained in a morgue for more than two weeks, India Today NE reported.
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