NEDA convenor and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to visit Manipur tomorrow

CM Sarma would be the first and only NE CM to visit trouble-torn Manipur. His visit comes within 9 days of HM Amit Shah leaving Manipur

NEDA convenor and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma would be visiting the violence-torn state of Manipur tomorrow. He will meet his Manipur counterpart and Manipur MLAs during his day long visit to the state that has been hit by arson, violence and clashes between communities since May 3. CM Sarma would take stock of the situation and is possible that he already has a brief from Union Home Minister Amit Shah might have a formula for peace.

CM Sarma’s visit comes within just over a week of Union Home Minister Amit Shah leaving the state after camping for 4 days from May 29 to June 1 in Manipur and announcing a slew of measures to restore peace and normalcy in the northeastern state that has been bruised and battered by the unabated violence particularly in districts like Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Bishnupur, Imphal East and West.

This would be CM Sarma’s first visit to Manipur after violence broke out last month and he is the only CM from the northeastern states to visit trouble-torn Manipur.

CM Sarma’s visit is taking place in the backdrop of encounters with security forces, incidents of sporadic violence being reported from different parts of the state and MLAs’ houses continuing to being attacked.

Just last night, two bike-borne miscreants hurled a low-intensity Improvised explosive device (IED) at the gate of MLA Soraisam Kebi’s residence. “There were no casualties. Except for a few holes in the ground, the blast did not cause any major damage,” the police said.
Soraisam Kebi represents the Naoriya Pakhanglakpa assembly constituency in the Imphal West.
This is the 6th incident of a legislator or a Union Minister’s house being attacked in Manipur.
On May 28, BJP MLA Kh Raghumani Singh’s house at Lamphel in Imphal West district was vandalised. Mob went on a rampage damaging property and breaking glasses. Security forces soon reached the spot and managed to disperse the unruly mob. Singh is the MLA from Uripok constituency.
On May 25, the residence of Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education RK Ranjan Singh was attacked and vandalized. Alert personnel of the Manipur Police and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) had swung into action to bring the situation under control.
On the same night, in a second incident an angry mob tried to attack the residence of Manipur Minister Th Biswajit Singh, however, security forces managed to stop the mob much before they could reach the Minister’s residence.
On May 24, an irate mob had vandalized Manipur’s Public Works Department, Youth Affairs & Sports Minister and Bishnupur MLA, Govindas Konthoujam’s residence.
Earlier, on May 4 Vungzagin Valte, a BJP MLA, was attacked by a mob in Imphal while he was returning from the state secretariat after a meeting with Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

Last night’s incident of bomb being hurled at MLA Soraisam Kebi’s house took place within hours of Kuldiep Singh, Security Advisor, Manipur Government stating that the situation in Manipur remained peaceful and under control as no incident of violence was reported in the last 48 hours. “A total of 896 arms and 11,763 ammunition and 200 bombs of different kinds have been recovered to date,” said Singh, who was appointed security advisor to the Manipur government at the beginning of May in view of the spiralling violence in Manipur.

A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s appeal on June 1, a total of 140 weapons were surrendered at different places in Manipur on June 2. The weapons surrendered included SLR 29, Carbine, AK, INSAS Rifle, INSAS LMG, .303 Rifle, 9mm pistol, .32 pistol, M16 rifle, smoke gun and tear gas, a locally made pistol, a stun gun, modified rifle, JVP and grenade launcher.

Manipur began to burn after violence broke out on May 3 during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) to protest the demand for the inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, following an April 19 Manipur High Court directive. Since then the state has been on the boil. Over 80 lives have been lost, hundreds injured and thousands of families, students displaced, many orphaned.

Also Read: No violence in last 48 hrs; MHA has cleared Rs 101.75-cr relief package: Security advisor to Manipur govt

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