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A civil society organisation of Meiteis on Thursday claimed that MHA Advisor for North East A K Mishra has told them that the Centre has prepared a roadmap for peace in ethnic strife-hit Manipur. Federation of Civil Society (FOCS) Spokesperson Ngangbam Chamchan Singh told reporters here on Thursday that Mishra told them on Wednesday that the first phase of the roadmap for peace in Manipur has already been implemented. Singh said, "A FOCS delegation met the MHA Advisor and other officials at the Old Secretariat (in Imphal) on Wednesday following an invitation during which Mishra informed them that the Centre has prepared a roadmap to end the ongoing conflict in the state and it will be implemented in phases." The FOCS spokesperson said, "Mishra informed us that the roadmap includes surrender of weapons, reopening of roads, and curbing activities of armed groups. In connection with this, on February 20, the governor had called for the surrender of all arms. Movement of all people on a
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled in the Lok Sabha the Manipur budget for 2025-26, envisaging an expenditure of Rs 35,103.90 crore, up from Rs 32,656.81 crore in the current financial year. Manipur is currently under the President's Rule. The total receipts have been pegged at Rs 35,368.19 crore, up from Rs 32,471.90 crore in 2024-25. According to documents, the capital outlay has been increased by 19 per cent to Rs 7,773 crore over the current financial year ending March 2025. Manipur's budget provides for over Rs 2,000 crore under Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) and Rs 9,520 crore for social sector outlay. For relief and rehabilitation for internally displaced persons, Rs 15 crore has been provided for temporary shelter to them; Rs 35 crore towards housing for displaced people, Rs 100 crore for relief operation, and Rs 7 crore for compensation. A budgetary allocation of Rs 2,866 crore for 2025-26 has been made towards incentives fo
Parliament's Budget session resumes on Monday amid indications of an 'EPIC' showdown between the government and the opposition which is planning to raise issues such as the alleged manipulation of electoral rolls, the fresh bout of violence in Manipur and India's handling of the Trump administration. The focus of the government will be on getting Parliament nod for the demands for grants, completion of the budgetary process, seeking approval for the Manipur budget and passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill. Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to move a statutory resolution seeking Parliament approval for the proclamation of President's Rule in Manipur. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also scheduled to table the budget for Manipur on Monday. Manipur has been under President's Rule since February 13 after the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. The opposition said it is set to corner the government over the issue of duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers.
Manipur's Kangpokpi district witnessed fresh unrest on Saturday as security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters opposing Union Home Minister Amit Shah's directive for free movement across the state from March 8 and a peace march by a Meitei organisation. Police said demonstrators clashed with security personnel, pelted stones, leading to injuries. Demonstrators burnt a few private vehicles as they attempted to stop the movement of a state transport bus heading for Senapati district from Imphal. Protesters also burnt tyres along the NH-2 (Imphal-Dimapur highway) and gathered in the middle of the roads to stop any movement of state government vehicles. The protest was also directed against the peace march by the Federation of Civil Society (FOCS), a Meitei body. The peace march that was underway in more than 10 four-wheelers was, however, stopped by security forces at Sekmai on way to Kangpokpi district. Police had earlier said they have been told to stop the march as they
A peace march conducted by a Meitei body was stopped in Manipur's Imphal West district on Saturday as the programme coincided with the government's initiative to resume inter-district bus services to ensure free movement of people, police said. Security forces stopped the procession, taken out by the Federation of Civil Society Organisations at Sekmai, some 18 km from Imphal, and asked the organisers to join the government's free movement initiative. Members of the Meitei body insisted that free movement means travel by anybody and demanded that they be allowed to go in the vehicles arranged by them. "If they (volunteers) wanted to participate in the free movement initiative, they may go through the vehicles arranged by the government," a police officer said. Federation of Civil Society Organisations president T Manihar said, "The purpose of the march is to bring peace in the state. If the government is not in a position to allow the free movement of the public, what is the need fo
Representatives of Meitei Alliance and Thadou Inpi Manipur on Friday demanded a National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Manipur, as they called for restoration of peace in the strife torn northeastern state. The civil society groups held a Meeting on Community Understanding for Peaceful and Harmonious Co-existence. At a conference, they demanded that the term "Any Kuki Tribe" should be removed from the Schedule Tribes List of Manipur, calling it "vague" and "fake." The Meitei Alliance is a consortium of various Meitei organisations based outside Manipur, while the Thadou Inpi is a civil society organisation representing the Thadou tribe. At the meeting, Thadou Inpi Manipur was led by M James Thadou, President of Thadou Inpi, Manipur and Meitei Alliance was led by Sagolsem Biramani, the statement said. The two groups demanded recognition of the "original inhabitants of Manipur, including all its original communities and updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC)" and ...
People handed over to the security forces a total of 196 arms along with ammunition and other miscellaneous items on the last day for voluntarily surrendering looted and illegally held weapons in strife-torn Manipur, police said on Friday. The security forces also destroyed 15 bunkers in Kangpokpi district. The arms were surrendered in eight districts till 4 pm of Thursday, which was the deadline for doing so after it was extended by Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the governor of the northeastern state which is under President's Rule. The districts are Bishnupur, Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Kakching, Jiribam Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts, police said. After the deadline for voluntarily surrendering arms expired, joint security forces conducted combing and search operations in various parts of the state and recovered 36 arms, 129 ammunition, seven explosives, 21 miscellaneous items and destroyed 15 illegal bunkers, police said in a statement. Twelve bunkers were destroyed at K ..
India slammed the unfounded and baseless comments made by the UN's human rights chief, who mentioned Kashmir and Manipur in his global update, with Delhi voicing concern over the update's generalised remarks and cherry picking of situations. As India was mentioned by name, let me begin by emphasising that the world's largest democracy continues to be a healthy, vibrant and pluralistic society. Unfounded and baseless comments in the update contrast jarringly with ground realities, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva Ambassador Arindam Bagchi said Monday. India's strong retort came after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, in his global update to the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, mentioned India and referred to the situation in Manipur and Kashmir. Bagchi said the people of India have "repeatedly proven wrong such misplaced concerns about us and we would urge a better understanding
Twenty more firearms have been surrendered by the public in four districts of ethnic strife-torn Manipur, police said on Monday. The fresh surrenders took place in Imphal East and West, Bishnupur and Jiribam districts on Sunday. Three firearms, including two 9mm pistols, were surrendered at the SDPO office at Porompat in Imphal East district, while four firearms, three grenades and other items were surrendered before the BSF in Bishnupur district, a police officer said. Firearms were also surrendered at Jiribam, Wangoi and Sekmai police stations, he said. Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla had on February 20 urged warring groups to voluntarily surrender weapons robbed from security forces and other illegally held firearms within seven days. During the seven-day period, more than 300 firearms were surrendered by the public, primarily in the valley districts. Later, he extended the deadline for the surrender of looted and illegal firearms till 4 pm on March 6 following demands by people fr
Forty-two more firearms and cartridges have been surrendered by the public in five districts of ethnic strife-torn Manipur, police said on Sunday. The firearms were surrendered in Imphal West and East, Churachandpur, Bishnupur and Tamenglong districts on Saturday, a police officer said. Five firearms, including two pistols, six grenades and over 75 cartridges were surrendered in Bishnupur district. Seventeen country-made guns, nine 'pompi' (locally made mortars), and cartridges were surrendered at Kaimai police station in Tamenglong district. At least 10 firearms and cartridges were surrendered at Yaingangpokpi, Porompat, Churachandpur and Lamsang police stations, the police officer said. During search operations at Sairemkhul in Imphal West district, an INSAS LMG with one magazine loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition, one AK-56 rifle, three SLR rifles, one SMG 9mm carbine, one .303 rifle, one DBBL gun, four grenades without detonators, one Chinese hand grenade and other articles w
The Kuki Students' Organisation and the Kuki-Zo Women's Forum Delhi and NCR staged a demonstration here on Saturday, and raised the demand for a separate Union Territory with a legislature for the Kuki areas of Manipur. Scores of members of the Kuki-Zo tribe gathered at the Jantar Mantar and raised slogans, saying they cannot go back to Manipur unless the crisis in the northeastern state has been resolved. The protesters carried placards with slogans that called Biren Singh's resignation from the chief minister's post a "smokescreen" and highlighted their demand for a separate Union Territory. The protesters blamed the former chief minister for the situation prevailing in Manipur. In a statement issued at the demonstration site, the protesters said the Kuki-Zo community has endured historical injustices. "The Kuki-Zo community has endured historical injustices and would like to reiterate the urgent need for a political solution for the community in Manipur," the statement, copies o
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday reviewed the security situation in Manipur with a focus on bringing back normalcy in the restive state and surrender of illegal and looted arms held by different groups, sources said. This was the first such a meeting held after the imposition of the President's rule in the northeastern state, which has been witnessing ethnic violence since May 2023. Over 250 people have lost their lives in the violence. "The home minister took stock of the security situation in Manipur. A detailed briefing was given on the overall law and order situation in the state," sources said. The sources added that the focus of the meeting was on bringing back to the pre-May 2023 level of normalcy and on the surrender of illegal and looted arms held by different groups. Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, top officials of the Manipur government, Army, paramilitary forces attended the meeting. The President's rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13 after N Biren Singh ..
Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Friday extended the deadline for the surrender of looted and illegal arms until 4 PM on March 6 following demands by people from both hill and valley areas for additional time, an official statement said. "Upon the expiry of the seven-day deadline for the voluntary surrender of arms, there have been requests from both the valley and hill areas to extend the period. I have considered these requests and decided to extend the deadline until 4 PM on March 6," the statement read. It further assured that no punitive action would be taken against those who surrender their weapons within this period, emphasising that "this is the last opportunity for everyone concerned to contribute to peace, communal harmony, the future of our youth, and the security of our society." Bhalla had on February 20 urged warring groups to voluntarily surrender weapons robbed from security forces and other illegally held arms within seven days, the deadline of which ended on
Days after Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla urged the people of the strife-torn state to voluntarily surrender looted and illegally held weapons, at least 15 firearms were handed over to police in three districts, officials said on Tuesday. Four firearms, including one SMC Carbine with a magazine and one double barrel, along with three hand grenades, were surrendered at Singjamei Police Station in Imphal West district, an official said. One self-loading rifle was handed over to Andro Police Station, while five firearms were surrendered by people at Sagolmang PS in Imphal East district. One 9 mm pistol and ammunition were surrendered before Heingang police personnel in Imphal East district, while four guns were handed over to police in Churachandpur, another official said. Bhalla had on February 20 urged the people to voluntarily surrender looted and illegally held weapons within seven days, assuring no punitive action would be initiated against those giving up arms during this ..