Will bridge Meitei-Kuki divide, restore peace in Manipur: Home Minister Amit Shah
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, June 17
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government will, at the earliest, engage Meiteis and Kukis in strife-torn Manipur to bridge the ethnic divide and restore complete harmony in the state. The minister directed strategic deployment of central forces to restore normalcy in Manipur and said forces would be increased if required.
Shah made these remarks at a high-level meeting to review the security situation in the state that has been reeling under violence since March 3, 2023, when a mayhem erupted after a tribal solidarity march against the majority Meitei’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Nearly 200 civilians and security personnel have died in the violence that followed.
Top representatives of the government and security establishment were in attendance at the review meeting at North Block today but Chief Minister N Biren Singh was curiously absent.
The BJP has ignored demands to rest Biren Singh, a Meitei, whose presence was seen by sections as troubling rather than calming. In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP and allies lost both Manipur seats — Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur — to the Congress.
The review happened a week after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat flagged the need for healing touch in Manipur.
The review was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka, Chief of Army Staff (Designate) Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, Security Adviser to Manipur Government Kuldiep Singh, Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh, Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi and the Assam Rifles Director General. He asked security and law enforcement agencies to take strict action against perpetrators of violence.
He directed the Manipur Chief Secretary to ensure proper health and education facilities for the displaced people and their rehabilitation. He said the Ministry of Home Affairs would talk to both Meiteis and Kukis, so as to bridge the ethnic divide, at the earliest.
