Amit Shah Reviews Manipur Security Amid Ongoing Ethnic Tensions
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah met top officials from the Manipur government on Friday to assess the security situation and rehabilitation plans for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the northeastern state. The meeting, held in New Delhi, was attended by Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla, Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh, Director General of Police Rajiv Singh, and Chief Secretary Puneet Goel. The review comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of President's Rule in Manipur, which was imposed on February 13, 2023, after ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo people left at least 260 people dead and 50,000 displaced. The Manipur government has started the rehabilitation process by relocating a group of Meitei IDPs to their homes near the buffer zone. However, the move was met with resistance from militants, who fired towards the villages in protest. Around 50,000 people remain in relief camps across the state. According to officials, the government has planned a phase-wise resettlement of the IDPs, with Phase 1 focusing on those whose houses were partially damaged, followed by Phase 2, involving those families allotted houses under the PMAY-G scheme. The third phase involves families who need to be relocated to either the valleys or hills from where they fled during the violence. The government has released funds to local district magistrates to rebuild houses, while security forces will ensure that there is no obstruction from locals. A high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary will monitor the rehabilitation process. Manipur has largely remained peaceful since the imposition of President's Rule, but security forces remain on high alert due to recent incidents, including the firing at the homes of IDPs who returned last month and the National Green Tribunal's order to halt the construction of a road built by the Kuki-Zo people. The road construction has been stopped due to environmental concerns and the absence of forest clearance.
