Guwahati (Assam): Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday said that the will travel to violence-hit Manipur to resolve all disputes and asked all groups to maintain peace. "Appeal to people in Manipur to maintain peace and resolve all disputes through dialogue," he said.
Shah while laying the foundation stone of the tenth national campus of the National Forensic Sciences University to be set Changsari area of Kamrup district, said he will travel to the northeastern state to help resolve disputes.
"I will go to Manipur soon and stay there for three days but before that, both groups should remove mistrust and suspicion among themselves and ensure that peace is restored in the state," he said. The Centre will ensure that justice is given to all who suffered in the clashes which broke out in the state, but "people must hold a dialogue to ensure peace in the state," Shah said.
Shah is on a day-long visit to Assam to attend three events to mark the completion of two years of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government in the state. The home minister was earlier scheduled to visit the state on May 11 to mark the completion of two years of Sarma's government in office but had postponed it due to the prevailing law and order situation in Manipur.
Manipur has been affected by ethnic clashes linked to multiple issues for almost a month. An ethnic clash emerged between non-tribal Meitei people and tribal Kuki people erupted on May 3 in the northeastern state.
The violence killed at least 60 people and injured at least a further 230. Property worth crores was destroyed and thousands were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter in the government-organised camp. The Congress has demanded that the Prime Minister must immediately call a meeting to open dialogue between the warring Meitis and Kukis
As reported by ETV Bharat, the three-member fact-finding panel of Congress comprising Mukul Wasnik, Ajoy Kumar and Sudip Roy Burman had been named by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on May 17. "We demand that the PM, HM should call a meeting of the community leaders to hold peace talks. No one is talking to each other in the state. The Meitis and the Kukis are running their own relief camps. The state government is nowhere to be seen providing relief and restoring peace. There is a need for a dialogue between the two main communities,” senior Congress leader and a member of the probe panel Ajoy Kumar said.
“There should be immediate rehabilitation for the 54000 displaced people. The situation in Manipur can be assessed from the fact that 20 police stations have been burnt, 2000 houses have been burnt, 1000 semi-automatic rifles have been looted from the police, 150 Churches have been burnt and around 150 armed squads are roaming free,” he said.
According to the Congress leader, the Centre must take note of the huge social unrest in Manipur which is a border state. “The crisis is now not only limited to Manipur. Thousands of displaced persons have crossed over to Mizoram. Besides, social unrest in a border state can be exploited by our neighbours. There is no security in the border areas. Worse, arson started again on Tuesday,” said Ajoy Kumar, a former IPS officer.
Also read: Manipur tense but calm as fresh violence reported
