Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh said that 60 “innocent” lives were lost and over 200 wounded in the ethnic clashes in the state that displaced 35,000 people, while around 1,700 houses were burned down, and 1,041 weapons and 7,460 rounds of ammunition looted from police armouries.
He appealed for peace and said: “It is a very, very unfortunate incident.” A high-level probe will be conducted to fix responsibility on persons or groups who incited/instigated the violence, he said. Government employees will also come under the purview of the probe for not meeting responsibilities.
A clash broke out between the Kuki-led tribal groups and the majority Meitei community in Churachandpur district, causing authorities to impose curfews and shut down internet access. Additionally, a shoot-on-sight directive was given for urgent circumstances.
CM Singh said curfew was relaxed for three hours on Monday as no violence was reported the past two days. The government is working round-the-clock to resolve the crisis and enable the displaced people to return home. Union home minister Amit Shah is directly monitoring the situation, he said.
He said that roughly 20,000 displaced individuals had successfully returned home, and that procedures for the safe return of the remaining 15,000 had been delegated to a subcommittee made up of three cabinet ministers.
States race to get people out of Manipur
The governments of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttarakhand are acting quickly to connect with and return their citizens who have been left trapped in Manipur where ethnic violence have claimed over 60 lives since May 3.
Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have arranged special flights, while the Rajasthan government is talking to private airline IndiGO to bring back around 125 Rajasthanis, majority of them students, from Imphal. Manipur’s northeastern neighbours Assam, Meghalalaya and Tripura have already initiated the evacuation process of their residents stuck in the strife-hit state.