Hand over unified command to state govt: Manipur CM urges Centre (Lead)

Imphal, Sep 8 (IANS) Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh for the second consecutive day on Sunday met Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya at the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum urging the Centre to provide adequate powers and responsibilities to the elected state government as per the constitution by handing over ‘Unified Command’ to deal with the prevailing situation.

A top official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that the Governor would forward the memorandum, submitted by the Chief Minister, to the Central government for taking the necessary course of action.

Currently, Chief Security Advisor to the Manipur government Kuldeep Singh, who is the former Director General of CRPF, is the chief of the Unified Command of all the Central Para Military and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), deployed in the state.

Working under the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Kuldeep Singh was appointed by the Centre soon after the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May last year.

The CMO official told IANS on condition of anonymity that the memorandum, submitted to the Governor by the Chief Minister also demanded the abrogation of the Suspension of Operation agreement signed with various factions of the Kuki militant outfits in 2008, protection of the territorial integrity of the state, completion of fencing along 398 km border with Myanmar at the earliest and conduct National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state with base year of 1961 and detect all illegal migrants and deport them.

During the meeting with the Governor, the Chief Minister was accompanied by state Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, a few Ministers and MLAs.

The Chief Minister also met the Governor on Saturday after a meeting with the MLAs of BJP and other coalition partners at the CM secretariat.

An official said that in the meeting with the legislators, the Chief Minister discussed the current law and order situation in the state, especially after the stepped-up violent incidents.

The Chief Minister’s meeting with the Governor twice — on Saturday and Sunday — and submission of the memorandum assumed significance after the escalated violence in the trouble-torn state and killing at least nine people, including women and elderly persons in different districts in between September 1 and 7.

Meanwhile, hundreds of women carrying torches organised rallies on Sunday evening in Imphal to protest the rising violence in the state during the past week.

At a point in time, the participants of the rallies became agitated and then the security forces dispersed the mob by firing several rounds of tear gas shells.

Amid the rising violence, influential BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh, who is the son-in-law of Chief Minister Biren Singh, last week requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to withdraw 60,000 central forces from the state claiming “they are not yielding peace”.

Imo Singh wrote to the Home Minister stating that the presence of around 60,000 central forces in Manipur “is not yielding peace, thus it’s better to remove such forces who are mostly present as mute spectators”.

“If the presence of central forces cannot stop the violence, it is better to remove them and allow the state forces to take charge and bring peace in Manipur,” the MLA had said in the letter.

Congress Lok Sabha MP from Manipur Angomcha Bimol Akoijam on Saturday asked the Central government to take responsibility for the deaths and destruction that occurred in the state which has been in the grip of ethnic unrest for the past 16 months now.

Akoijam, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Inner Manipur seat where he defeated BJP’s Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh earlier this year, said that despite 60,000 security personnel deployed in the state since the ethnic violence broke out in May last year, the situation has not improved.

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an apex body of the Meitei community, on Friday called a “public emergency” and urged the people to remain indoors, claiming “the government failed to provide security to the common people”.

COCOMI coordinator Thokchom Somorendro, announcing the “public emergency” had said that all schools, colleges and educational institutions must be shut indefinitely till the “situation improves”.

Director General of Police, Manipur, Rajiv Singh earlier said that the state police are in touch with the Director General National Security Guard (NSG) and other experts to seek their support about the recent attacks on civilians by the militants using drones and sophisticated weapons.

The Manipur Police chief said that the bombings using drones are a new development in Manipur and the Manipur Police has already through social media said that it has been escalated and the police are taking it very seriously.

“I have personally spoken to everybody in Delhi. I have also spoken to DG NSG and his team. Other experts are coming in, and we have formed a high-level committee to look into the drone attack and related other issues,” the DGP had said.

–IANS

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