According to sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the situation there following violence between tribals and the majority Meitei community on Thursday by speaking to the chief ministers of Manipur’s neighbouring states and holding two meetings with top central and state functionaries via video conference.
According to the sources, the home minister spoke over the phone with the chief ministers of Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland as well as Manipur while closely monitoring the situation in Manipur.
Amit Shah spoke on the phone with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the morning, at which time he was informed of the current state of affairs in the state and the measures being done to reestablish normalcy.
Two video conference meetings were also held with the home minister to examine the situation. They were attended, according to the sources, by the chief minister of Manipur, the chief secretary, the police chief, the union home secretary, and other top federal government officials.
On Wednesday, 12 companies of the paramilitary forces—including those from the CRPF and BSF—were moved to Manipur under orders from the Union Home Ministry. On Thursday, 14 more companies were dispatched. On Friday, an additional 8–10 firms are most likely to be deployed.
Since Wednesday, Assam Rifles soldiers have also been stationed in Manipur’s violent neighbourhoods.
After Naga and Kuki tribals organised a “Tribal Solidarity March” to protest attempts to grant scheduled tribe status to the predominately Metei community, fighting broke out in the state on Wednesday and worsened overnight with counterattacks mounted by rival communities in retaliation to earlier attacks.
‘Shoot at sight’ orders were issued by the state government on Thursday in “extreme cases” to stop the state’s growing tribal and Meitei community violence, which has driven over 9,000 people from their communities.
