Amit Shah to review security situation in Manipur on Saturday

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah will on Saturday review the security situation in Manipur, the first such meeting after the imposition of the President’s rule in the northeastern state, officials said.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic violence since May 2023 and since then 250 people have lost their lives in the restive state.

“The home minister will review the security situation in Manipur on Saturday. Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, top officials of the Manipur government, Army, paramilitary forces will attend the meeting,” the officials said.

The President’s rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13 after N Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister. The state assembly, which has a tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.

The security review meeting will be held after the February 20 ultimatum given by the governor to everyone holding illegal and looted arms to surrender.

During the seven-day period, more than 300 weapons were surrendered by the public, primarily in the valley districts. These include 246 firearms surrendered by Meitei radical group Arambai Tenggol.

The governor on Friday extended the deadline for the surrender of looted and illegal arms until 4 pm on March 6 following demands by people from both hill and valley areas for additional time.

After taking charge as the governor of Manipur on January 3, Bhalla has been meeting a cross sections of people, taking feedback from them on how to bring back normalcy in the northeastern state.

Bhalla has also chaired several meetings in Manipur where law and order situation in the state was discussed and gave necessary directions to the security forces, the officials said.

Bhalla, a former union home secretary, who had closely worked with Shah for five years till August 2024, was handpicked by the union home minister himself and said to have given the mandate to bring back normalcy to the restive state.

The violence started after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in May 2023.

Permanent peace continues to be elusive in the northeastern state even though there have been efforts from the Central government to bring the warring communities to negotiating table.