Manipur Violence: CM Biren Bats For More Power To State Govt; Urges Centre To Junk Kuki Demand For Separate Administration
Manipur Violence: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh submitted a memorandum to Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, urging the Central government to take protect the conflict-torn state’s territorial integrity and not to give in to the demands for a separate administration raised by Kuki-Zo groups.
According to officials, CM Biren, along with several MLAs and Manipur Assembly Speaker, held meeting with the Governor at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday and submitted a memorandum following a fresh spate of violence which has engulfed the northeastern state recently.
In a statement, the Raj Bhavan said that the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues met the governor and submitted a memorandum. However, neither Raj Bhavan nor CM Biren Singh shared the contents of the memorandum.
As per the statement, CM was accompanied over 20 MLAs and assembly speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh during the meeting which lasted for an hour.
The statement said that besides over 20 MLAs, Singh was accompanied by assembly speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh during the meeting that lasted about an hour.
In the memorandum to Acharya, the chief minister said the Centre should ensure peace in Manipur and give adequate power to the elected state government. He also called for revoking the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, a pact signed in 2008 by the Centre, the Manipur government and two conglomerates of Kuki militant outfits – Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and United People’s Front (UPF), said an official, according to news agency PTI.
CM Singh had also held a meeting with the governor on Saturday night to brief him about the situation following a fresh bout of violence in the ethnic conflict-torn state.
On Saturday, militants stormed the house of a person and shot him dead in his sleep. Following the murder, a heavy exchange of fire broke out between members of the warring communities, leading to the deaths of four armed men, according to the police.
Ethnically diverse Jiribam which was earlier largely untouched by the ethnic clashes in Imphal Valley and adjoining hills erupted in violence after a 59-year-old man belonging to one community was killed allegedly by militants of another community in June.
Clashes between Meitei and Kukis left over 200 people dead and thousands homeless since May last year.
(With PTI inputs)
