New Delhi/Imphal, Jan 18: Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Saturday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and discussed the prevailing situation in the state, officials said. A Manipur government official said that Bhalla, in his maiden visit to the national capital after taking over the gubernatorial charge of the trouble-torn Manipur on January 3, went to Delhi earlier this week.
“The Governor briefed the Home Minister about the state’s ongoing situation,” the official told IANS, refusing to disclose the details of the discussion. The Governor earlier met President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in Delhi.
After taking over the charge as Governor on January 3, Bhalla, on his maiden tour in the state, visited Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts on January 7 and during his interaction with various civil society organisations appealed to the leaders to work collaboratively with the administration in peace-building efforts.
He also visited various relief camps in Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts and interacted with displaced people, who have been staying in the relief camps since the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May 2023.
Bhalla, a former Union Home Secretary, on January 10 visited Moreh town, along the India-Myanmar border, and took stock of the overall functioning of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) and ongoing border fencing work. Officials of the Land Ports Authority of India briefed the Governor about the functioning of the ICP and trade between India and Myanmar.
Bhalla also met with leaders from civil society organisations (to understand their grievances and listened views of different business and community leaders of Moreh town including the Border Trade Chamber of Commerce, the Tamil Sangam, the Manipur Muslim Council, and the Gurkha Samaj and heard their issues and concerns.
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has stepped up the work of India-Myanmar border fencing near Moreh town in Tengnoupal district. Four northeastern states share a 1,643 km border with Myanmar of which 398 km is in Manipur.
The entire 1,643 km porous India-Myanmar border, known for the smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics, would be fenced at a cost of Rs 31,000 crore. Meanwhile, leaders of the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), the apex socio-political body of the Kuki-Zo tribal communities in Manipur, held a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in New Delhi on Friday and discussed their demands and prevailing situation in the northeastern state, KZC sources said.
The four-member delegation of the KZC, led by its Chairman Henlianthang Thanglet, met the Adviser to MHA A.K. Mishra and Joint Director, MHA, Rajesh Kamble. The KZC, a conglomerate of 13 organisations of the Kuki-Zo tribal community, and 10 tribal MLAs have been demanding a separate administration equivalent to a Union Territory for the Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribal-dominated areas.
At least 250 people have been killed and over a thousand people injured in the ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo and the non-tribal Meitei people since May 3, 2023. More than 60,000 people have been displaced from their homes and villages and now staying in relief camps in different districts for the past 20 months.
IANS