@Evening: 🧯 Centre, Neighbour States Get To Work As Fears Loom Of Manipur Ethnic Tensions Rising Or Spilling Over

🚨 Centre takes over law & order

Tensions from the Meitei-tribal ethnic clashes in Manipur have spilled over to neighbouring states.

Context: Youngsters from the Meitei and Kuki communities clashed in Meghalaya state capital Shillong last evening.

• The police arrested 16 people from the two communities.

• Many Meitei families residing in Mizoram, which lies southwest of Manipur and inhabited predominantly by the Chin-Kuki-Zo ethnic group, have reported feeling insecure. 

• In Nagaland, which lies north of Manipur, tensions between Meteis and local Nagas have been reported.

Easing the tensions. Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to the CMs of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Manipur, and requested them to ensure the safety of all communities, especially minorities.

• The Nagaland and Mizoram governments have held meetings with community leaders to douse tensions.

• The CMs of the two states have also requested the powerful churches to help ensure peace.

• Nagaland has opened a helpline for people from its state currently residing in or visiting Manipur in case they want to be evacuated.

• Meghalaya has also started a helpline for students from the state studying in Manipur. Students will be evacuated, if necessary.

Centre in action. The Union government imposed Article 355 of the Constitution in Manipur Thursday evening and took several steps to enforce the law.

• Manipur’s Additional DG (Intelligence), Ashutosh Sinha, has been appointed as the overall ‘Operational Commander’ to restore the rule of law in the state and ensure its return to normalcy. 

• Sinha will, effectively, be the new police chief of the state and will have all officers reporting to him instead of the incumbent DGP P Doungel.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has also appointed Kuldip Singh, a former DIG of the NIA, as the Security Adviser to the Manipur CM.

• These developments are a setback to Nongthonbam Biren Singh since the Centre's steps indicate a lack of confidence in the CM.

State continues to simmer. Though no fresh violence or clashes were reported from any part of Manipur since late Thursday evening, the situation continues to be tense.

• A top Manipur police officer told Swarajya over the phone from state capital Imphal that riotous mobs looted arms from the Police Training Centre at Pangei in Imphal (East) district on Thursday afternoon.

• He said that the cadres of some proscribed militant outfits were involved in Thursday’s violence in some parts of the state, especially Imphal and Churachandpur. 

• State authorities fear that the proscribed outfits are taking advantage of the volatile law-and-order situation to whip up ethnic tensions.

• State authorities are also on edge over the ‘shoot at sight’ orders issued to security forces.

• With a large number of Army, Assam Rifles, and CRPF personnel being deployed in the troubled spots, the state civil administration fears that mishandling of a situation can lead to more trouble.