Amit Shah monitors Manipur situation, engages in continuous dialogue to restore peace

New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been regularly reviewing the security situation in Manipur, ensuring necessary action in the last 100 days, according to government sources.

The sources told ANI that continuous dialogues are being held with both the Meitei and Kuki communities to restore peace in the region as soon as possible.

As per the sources, two battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed in Manipur in addition to around 200 teams of central police forces deployed there.

As a new initiative, Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB) has been opened from September 17, 2024, to provide essential commodities to the people of Manipur at fair prices. In addition to the 21 existing Police Kalyan Bhandar, 16 new Kalyan Bhandar are being opened. Out of the 16 new Police Kalyan Bhandar, eight will be in the valley, and the remaining eight in hilly areas.

The sources further said that the Manipur government has started 25 shops/mobile vans to provide essential commodities at fair prices to the general public. These shops/mobile vans are operating in all districts of Manipur.

The central government has ended the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the India-Myanmar border. The Cabinet Committee on Security has, in principle, approved the construction of border fencing and roads along the 1,610-kilometre-long international border between India and Myanmar, at a cost of approximately Rs 31,000 crore. About 10 km of fencing have been completed over Moreh, and work is underway to fence another 21 km of the border in other areas of Manipur, the sources added.

On September 17, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the BJP-led central government is working to control the situation in Manipur and has created a roadmap to resolve the issue.He added that the violence in Manipur is racial and can only be solved through dialogue between the affected groups, and the central government is in talks with both the Kuki and Meitei groups to find a solution

Addressing a press conference on the first 100 days of the third term of the PM Modi government, Shah said, “Recently, violence went on for three days, other than that, in the last 3 months, no major incident took place. We are hopeful to bring the situation under control. We are in talks with both the local tribes. Because this is racial violence, there cannot be any solution until there is a dialogue between them. We are speaking to the Kuki groups and the Meitei groups. We have created a roadmap to solve the issue.”

Shah said that the main cause of the problem in Manipur is the India-Myanmar border. He added that the central government has started fencing this border and has completed 30 km so far, with CRPF deployed at key points to prevent infiltration.

“We have started the fencing of the root cause of the problem, the India-Myanmar border. 30 km of the fencing has been completed. The central government has approved a budget to fence the whole 1500 km border. We have successfully deployed CRPF at strategic locations. To stop the infiltration, we have nullified the agreement between India and Myanmar which allowed the movement of the people, and now entry into India is allowed only by visa,” Shah said.