World Meetei Council seeks PM Modi’s ‘urgent intervention’ to restore peace in Manipur

Agartala, Aug 18 (IANS) The World Meetei Council (WMC) on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take “immediate steps” to resolve the ongoing ethnic crisis in Manipur, emphasising that the violence and unrest-hit northeastern state is an integral part of India, and the over a year-long hostility is a matter of national concern.WMC’s Tripura unit President H. Bankim Singha, on the sidelines of an event here, said the Manipur crisis has been persisting for over 15 months, claiming over 225 lives while leaving thousands homeless and destitute.Describing the ethnic riots in Manipur as a shameful chapter in the state’s history, he said that “it is deeply distressing to see one community setting fire to another community’s properties”.”The future of children is becoming uncertain, and their education is being severely disrupted… people are being forced to live as refugees in their own land. Thousands have lost their livelihoods, and some have even attempted suicide due to the unbearable suffering,” the WMC leader lamented while talking to the mediapersons.Singha underlined that the Prime Minister bears the primary responsibility for restoring peace in Manipur at the earliest.”Manipur is an integral part of India. If one part of a human body gets burned, the pain is felt in the entire body. The Prime Minister must step in to heal this wound before it affects the nation further,” he said.Criticising the Manipur government, Singha said that the N. Biren Singh-led government has so far failed to restore normalcy. He said that the local authorities should work towards peace, and again stressed that “it is ultimately the responsibility of the Prime Minister, who is powerful like a king, and must ensure the stability of the state”.”The ethnic violence has been ongoing for over 15 months and this continuing conflict brings a bad name not only to Manipur but also to the community and the country,” Singha added, questioning why the situation has not yet been brought under control.The programme on Sunday event was organised by the Tripura state unit of the WMC, a branch of the Global Meetei Foundation, to felicitate students from the community who excelled in the secondary and higher secondary board examinations held recently in Tripura.The programme aimed to inspire the youth of their community towards a better future and contribute to the development of the nation.Speakers who addressed the event emphasised the urgent restoration of peace and normalcy in Manipur.Outside Manipur, for the past many decades, over 30,000 Manipuri people live in Tripura, around four lakh in Assam, while many live in other northeastern states. Some also reside in the neighbouring nation of Bangladesh.–IANSsc/pgh