Bhupen Goswami
Guwahati: A violent mob attacked Wungzagin Valte, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Thanlon constituency in Manipur’s Farzawal district, while returning from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat at 6 pm on May 4. The incident took place on RIMS Road when a mob attacked the car carrying the MLA. He was on his way to his official residence after attending a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister N Biren Singh on the prevailing law and order situation in Manipur. A Naga MLA from Hills, who attended the meeting, told news outlet Scroll that a mob surrounded Valte and vandalised his vehicle. He said Valte is likely to be airlifted to Delhi for treatment. The state government has issued shoot-at-sight orders to control violence in Manipur. Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha MP and boxer Mary Kom also appealed to remain calm. “The situation in Manipur saddens me, earlier I could not have imagined so much violence. It has become more frightening since last night. Expressing deep concern over the ongoing violence in Manipur, the Congress today demanded immediate imposition of President’s rule in the state and said it was surprising that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were busy garnering votes in the Karnataka Assembly polls instead of taking steps to resolve the crisis in the state when the state was in the grip of violence. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said it was an irony of the country that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister were busy campaigning in Karnataka and Manipur was burning on the other side. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, don’t you have the morality to focus all your attention on Manipur? He said the situation in Manipur has become very alarming and the cycle of violence has not stopped, so peace should be restored by imposing President’s rule immediately. Manipur has literally been burning for four days. Curfew has been imposed in eight of the state’s 16 districts. Bjp MP and Rajya Sabha Olympic medallist Mary Kom has said that save Manipur. In a tweet, party leader Ajay Maken questioned the government as to how the Prime Minister could remain silent and ignore the ongoing violence when Manipur was burning. Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued in the state and it seems that the Prime Minister will continue to take stock of the situation from Delhi itself. For Modi, campaigning and garnering votes is more important than taking steps to solve manipur’s problem. They should take steps to normalise the situation in Manipur instead of being busy with elections. Congress communication department head Pawan Khera said the prime minister was busy campaigning in Karnataka in an atmosphere when Manipur was literally burning due to violence. It seems that the Prime Minister has time to campaign in the whole world only in Karnataka. This shows that the BJP government’s priorities are wrong.However, 14 companies of paramilitary forces (RAF, CRPF, BSF) have been deployed so far. By now, more paramilitary forces are coming. Their task will be very different from that of Manipur Police as they are trained for war to fight the enemy. So far, 35000-40000 victims have been successfully evacuated. They have been kept in safe places. People were appealed to surrender the weapons snatched from around 7-8 police posts by the mob at the earliest. Those who surrender weapons will be spared as an act of mob. Those who fail to surrender weapons will face serious consequences of the law. Police officers are taking charge in addition to deployment of central forces. As the situation in crisis-hit Manipur deteriorated, the state government appointed retired IPS officer and former CRPF chief Kuldeep Singh as its security advisor. According to reports, Kuldeep Singh has reached Imphal. The 1986 batch Indian Police Service officer retired from service in September last year.