The All India Congress Committee (AICC) called on President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday to share its concerns over the prevailing situation in Manipur and to appeal for her intervention to restore normalcy in the State at the earliest.
The Congress team led by Mallikarjun Kharge also submitted a memorandum to the President where it stated that Chief Minister N Biren Singh led BJP government did not do enough to contain the ethnic clashes. ‘If firm action were taken on the 3rd May evening to prevent the arson in the hill districts, the situation would not have deteriorated this badly,’ it said.
The party highlighted that in the last 27 days since the violence broke out at Kangvai in Churachandpur, the situation was only deteriorating with nearly 100 people dead and several missing, over 2000 houses either burned or destroyed, some 10,000 people in relief camps, almost all educational institutions closed, all internet facilities banned and curfew imposed in all the valley districts and the hill districts of Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal and Churachandpur.
The Union Government provided a large number of security personnel to maintain law and order in the state, but the situation is still tense with violence continuing to erupt in few pockets and the entire state has turned into a tinderbox, the Congress said adding that thousands of people dwelling in peripheral areas near hills and valleys are living under fear psychosis facing sleepless nights.
This condition in Manipur may be termed a total collapse of law and order and breakdown of administration in the state the party stated. The Congress further stated that there is a ‘severe trust deficit’ both in the administration and the law enforcement agencies, which needs to be immediately redressed to bring back normalcy to the state. There is a deep sense of hurt in the Manipuri people because of the Union government’s total silence on the matter under 24 May, it said.
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The Congress also made 12 suggestions in its memorandum to restore peace, normalcy, and harmony in the state of Manipur.
- Firm and sustained efforts must be made to control violence in every part of the state for the immediate restoration of peace, harmony, and normalcy.
- The Union government must immediately take all possible measures to control and confine all militant groups (including those under So0) and ensure that all armed civilian groups be stopped forthwith by taking appropriate action.
- Villages near the foothills of both communities must be covered with adequate security so that armed militants do not intrude and disturb peace.
- The Union government should take steps for the rehabilitation of all displaced persons at their original place or in safer areas with suitable security arrangements.
- Payment of dignified and reasonable compensation for loss of life, property, and all other things concerned to all the victims and affected persons.
- There is a need for immediate identification of those who have lost their lives and handing their bodies over to the bereaved families for the last rites.
- A special drive must be carried out to trace many numbers of missing people.
- A large number of children are living in the relief camps and special arrangement for the education of the students of the displaced families must be made.
- Disruption of transportation of goods and essential commodities through the National Highways and district headquarters must he stopped.
- The state government must immediately take over the management and maintenance of all relief camps and provide proper health and sanitation facilities for all.
- The letter and spirit of the existing Constitutional provisions to the state of Manipur must be protected, and the trust between the communities should be restored through reconciliation and dialogue.
- A high-level inquiry commission should be constituted headed by a serving or retired Supreme Court Judge.
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