Manipur: 5 houses burnt, tear gas shells fired at irate mob

Five houses were burnt in Manipur. Security forces had to fire tear gas shells to control the irate mob.

Unidentified attackers burnt down five houses at New Lambulane locality in Manipur's capital Imphal.
A police official said that the firefighters immediately rushed to the spot and doused the blaze. " Irate mob gathered and blamed authorities for not identifying the culprits. "


He added that a few rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the mob. " Unidentified attackers snatched three weapons from the security personnel guarding the residence of former Health Director K. Rajo on Sunday at Sagolband Bijoy Govinda in Imphal West district. The looted weapons included two AK series rifles and a carbine".

Assembly session
The Committee on Tribal Unity and the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum denounce the convening of the 4th session of the 12th Legislative Assembly of Manipur on 29th August 2023 since the present situation is not at all conducive for the Kuki-Zo MLAs to attend.

They stated considering the complete breakdown of law and order and the failure of the State in protecting the lives of the common people and top officials alike, convening the assembly session at the moment is devoid of logic and rationality.

Since the outbreak of the current ethnic violence on 3rd May 2023, Imphal valley have witnessed the lynching of more than a hundred innocent Kuki-Zo people, and the destruction of thousands of houses including hundreds of churches and quarters. Even the lives and properties of Ministers and MLAs were not spared. Women were stripped, paraded naked, raped, and murdered. Thousands of sophisticated weapons and lakhs of ammunitions have been looted, and still remain at large. Yet the present dispensation allows the culprits to roam scot-free.

All these instances turn the state into a complete war-like zone. While there is absolute anarchy in the state, the move to convene the assembly session instead of controlling the continued violence perpetrated by the radicalized Meitei outfit first is absolutely unacceptable. This is nothing but the majoritarian and integrationist approach of the dominant community to impose its will upon the minority community.

The body added, "If the state government is really concern about bringing back normalcy, it should own moral responsibility and resign for good. Forcing the assembly session in spite of knowing well that the representatives of a sizeable population of the state will not be able to attend is not only immoral but also exposed the ulterior motive of the dominant community. Therefore, the assembly session scheduled on 29th August should be deferred until normalcy is restored and the Kuki-Zo community feel absolutely safe in the valley. If the government decided to go ahead with the session without considering the sentiment of the minority tribal people, any untoward incident arising out of it shall be the sole responsibility of the state government."