Protestor killed in Manipur, CM Biren Singh convenes meeting with MLAs

National People’s Party legislators will not attend the meeting, following the withdrawal of their support to the BJP-led government on Sunday

Curfew continued to remain in force in the Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur districts

Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh convened a meeting with all non-Congress MLAs in Imphal at 6 p.m. on Monday (November 18, 2024), hours after a person was killed and another injured when the police opened fire on protestors in the State’s Jiribam on Sunday (November 17, 2024) night.

The incident took place when a mob went on a rampage on the streets of Jiribam town, and attacked the offices of the ruling BJP and Congress. While 20-year-old Khundrakpam Athouba died of gunshot wounds, 26-year-old K. Bishan was injured.

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Jiribam, where the violence has been concentrated for more than a week, was not among the districts where the Manipur government imposed a curfew and suspended Internet and mobile data services on Friday .

Curfew continued to remain in force in the Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur districts. Internet and mobile data services have been suspended in seven districts, including these three.

A BJP legislator, declining to be quoted, said the Chief Minister had invited “all the MLAs except the five from Congress” for a crucial meeting an hour after sundown, at 5 p.m.

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“Our MLAs are not attending the meeting, too,” a leader of the National People’s Party (NPP), which withdrew support to the BJP-led Manipur government on Sunday, said.

The 10 Kuki-Zo legislators, including seven of the BJP, will also not be present at the meeting. All 10 left the Imphal Valley after ethnic violence broke out on May 3, 2023.

The other MLAs invited to the meeting include six from the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), and five from the Naga People’s Front (NPF).

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Mr. Singh, the BJP legislator said, is expected to discuss the prevailing law-and-order situation with the MLAs at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.

Manipur relapsed into chaos after reports said the bodies of six women and children abducted by extremists in the Jiribam district on November 11 had been recovered. Mobs burned down and vandalised the houses of at least 15 MLAs, mostly of the BJP.

According to reports, the State government handed over three cases, including the November 8 killing of a tribal woman and the November 11 attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) post in which 10 “insurgents” died, to the National Investigation Agency. All three incidents were in the Jiribam district.

Meanwhile, the Manipur unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said it was worried that the ethnic conflict had remained unresolved even after 19 months. It condemned the killings of women and children, and appealed to the Central and State governments to resolve the conflict at the earliest.

Published - November 18, 2024 11:56 am IST