PM talks peace in Manipur

Rs 2,700 cr promised to Manipur

After projecting a persona of a listening, caring Prime Minister, anxious to protect the civil rights of citizens from an overbearing state in Kashmir, the Pm struck a similar note in the north east over a two-day trip to Manipur and Guwahati.

Although Singh said he had not come to the north east to win loyalty by money, economic development packages were doled out in Manipur as in Kashmir.

Singh promised Rs 2700 crore to Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh for infrastructure in Manipur, including extending a railway line to 25 KM outside Imphal.

But he also said what Manipuris wanted to hear, without ambiguity or evasion: that a high powered committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge Jeevan Reddy had been set up to look into Armed Forces Special Powers Act and if necessary, replace it with a "humane" act could address both security and human rights concerns.

The PM pleaded with Manipuris not to set deadlines for an act that had existed since 1958 as India ws a country of "great complexities and diversities".

"I appeal to brothers and sisters to cooperate with us in the test of our sincerity and to strengthen the cause of peace," he said.

Singh said he had come to Manipur to understand the problems faced by the people, promote the cause of peace and accelerate development activities.

Asking the youth to talk to the State instead of using the gun against it, he was asked pointedly about the killing of 17 constables by suspected Naxalites in UP.

"Just because they are procuring arms does not mean that we should stop talking to them. There should be a multi-pronged approach to deal with the problem," he said

At a press conference in Imphal, the PM did not agree with a questioner that the north east was being neglected by the centre. Singh said he was a representative in Parliament from Assam.

"It is my duty as an MP from the North East to be intimately involved with the problems and concerns of the region". Now that he was the Prime Minister, he said, this had increased his responsibility to work for the development of the region.

In Guwahati, Singh made an emotional appeal to the youth of Assam not to resort to use of gun and extended an "open invitation" for talks to any group, including ULFA, keen on resolving all outstanding problems in the North East.