New Delhi/Imphal, Dec 6 The 10-party INDIA bloc in Manipur on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Manipur, at the earliest convenience or hold talks with political parties from the state in New Delhi.
The bloc, led by the Congress, submitted a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), requesting him to visit Manipur to resolve the 19-month-long ethnic conflict.
Manipur state Congress President Keisham Meghachandra Singh, while talking to the media in Delhi, said that the leaders of the INDIA bloc sought permission to hold a sit-in demonstration in Jantar Mantar but the authorities declined permission.
“It is very unfortunate that we can’t practise our right to protest unprecedented turmoil... Our movement will not stop. We will continue to protest in different forms,” said Singh, who was part of the delegation of leaders of the bloc's parties.
He said that due to the 19-month-long ethnic violence over one lakh people were displaced from their homes and villages while a few hundred people were killed and hundreds of others injured.
The violence also destroyed huge amounts of property of the people of different communities, the Congress leader said, adding that the continued violence has also further escalated the turmoil with unprecedented pain, trauma, fear and complete helplessness among the people of Manipur.
“We urged the Prime Minister that if he does not find time to visit Manipur, he can call political leaders from the state to hear the serious situation in the state,” the state Congress chief said.
CPI-M leader Kshetrimayum Shanta, convenor of the 10-party INDIA bloc, said that it is very unfortunate that the Delhi Police denied permission for a peaceful sit-in protest in Jantar Mantar.
Meanwhile, around 20 civil society organisations and student bodies from Imphal Valley have announced plans to hold a rally in Delhi on December 22.
In a joint statement, the civil society groups including the Committee of Peaceful Coexistence Manipur, Federal Students Organisation Kangleipak, Manipuri Students Federation, and Imagi Meira announced their decision to organise a 50-member delegation, representing various communities, which intends to meet the Prime Minister to apprise their concerns and demands.
The ethnic violence between the non-tribals Meiteis and tribal Kuki-Zo broke out in the northeastern state on May 3 last year after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
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