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Guwahati: The Modi government should weigh “all options” under the Constitution to restore peace in Manipur, Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) president Conrad Sangma has said.
Calling the Manipur situation a “humanitarian crisis” and “extremely complicated”, Sangma, whose NPP is an ally of Manipur’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under N. Biren Singh, told ThePrint, “As a party, we would want the Government of India to examine all possible options under constitutional provisions, because at the end of day, as a political party, we want peace and harmony to be there. People of Manipur are suffering, whichever community they belong to. We want things back to normal”.
Manipur, which has been sporadically seeing violence since ethnic clashes first broke out between the non-tribal Meiteis and the ethnic Kuki-Zomis tribes on 3 May, saw tensions erupt Thursday at several places, including Imphal, where Sangma was to travel Saturday.
Party officials have said that the trip has been cancelled because of “unavoidable circumstances”.
There were several factors behind the prevailing situation in Manipur, Sangma said, adding that the “Government of India will have to examine all options, and act accordingly”.
“Every decision will have its own repercussions and its own impact,” he said. “Further, how you would handle the fallout of that particular decision is something that has to be seen holistically. It has to be done in a balanced manner.”
Sangma’s statements come a day after N. Biren Singh, in a surprise move, offered to resign from his position over the escalating violence in the state, but eventually decided against it after hordes of protesters blocked his path to the Raj Bhavan.
The NPP had earlier this month voiced its disappointment at the state government’s handling of the situation. Yumnam Joykumar Singh, the party’s national vice-president and former deputy chief minister of Manipur, had told ThePrint that his party would be forced to consider its support to the Biren Singh government if the situation continued to escalate.
NPP has seven seats in Manipur’s 60-member assembly. Even without its support, the BJP is comfortably placed in the House, having won 32 seats in last year’s assembly elections.
According to intelligence sources, the ethnic clashes that broke out in the state on 3 May have so far claimed more than 130 people and left several hundred wounded.
Since violence first broke out, both Kuki-Zomi tribes and the non-tribal Meiteis have resorted to firing and arson. The damage to property, too, has been considerable, with houses burnt and villages destroyed in the seemingly endless hostilities. Thousands of people, having been displaced, are currently living in relief camps.
According to government sources in Shillong, several Kukis who fled the violence are currently camping in Meghalaya, either living with relatives or in rented accommodations.
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‘People of Manipur are not fools’
Meanwhile, Joykumar Singh called on the central and state governments “to act in unison” to control the situation.
“It has to be the state government and the central government that has to take action in order to restore normality. Work out a plan. Things just can’t go on like this,” he told ThePrint. “They have to put a check on the escalation and sporadic incidents of violence. People want to go for cultivation in their fields, but are not able to do so because they are being fired upon. This needs to stop first and only then can you think of rehabilitation.”
Simply announcing compensation would not help, he said — more has to be done.
“The schools, houses and healthcare infrastructure people have lost have to be resurrected. How long will the state government keep them in relief camps,” said Joykumar.
He further clarified that his previous statement — that the NPP will be forced to reconsider its support — was just a message to the state government to “tighten up and get things right”.
“Whether the NPP withdraw support or not will not make a difference as they (BJP) have a majority. The message we want to convey is — look here, things are not being handled properly. Do something,” he said.
Asked about Biren Singh’s offer to resign Friday, the NPP leader said people of the state would be watching closely to assess if the situation had indeed improved.
“People are angry as things only seem to worsen by the day. After all the drama, they must be thinking to give the incumbent chief minister some more chance, but they would be watching for any change, any improvement in the efforts of the government that may bring a visible improvement in the situation. People of Manipur are not fools,” said Joykumar.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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