Imphal, Nov 19:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to visit Manipur for three days from November 20, marking his first visit to the state since ethnic violence broke out in May 2023.
RSS sources said that during his three-day (November 20-22) visit to Manipur, Sarsanghchalak will interact with prominent citizens, representatives of the Janajati (tribal) community, youths, RSS karyakarta and a few other select persons in Imphal.
Bhagwat’s visit to the state is in connection with the centenary celebrations of the RSS. He will hold brainstorming sessions on organisational expansion, youth outreach and cultural initiatives in the Northeast, the sources indicated.
He is arriving in Imphal from Guwahati on Thursday and will leave the Manipur capital on Saturday. This will be the RSS chief’s first visit to Manipur since the ethnic violence between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo tribal community broke out on May 3, 2023.
Bhagwat had last visited the state in 2022. It is not yet confirmed whether the RSS chief will visit the relief camps, where thousands of violence-hit displaced people have been staying for the last more than two years.
Over 260 people were killed, 1,500 were injured, and over 70,000 people were displaced after the ethnic violence broke out after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’, organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Manipur has been under President’s Rule since February 13, four days after the resignation of N Biren Singh from the Chief Minister’s post. Singh, who quit the Chief Ministerial post on February 9, four days before the President’s Rule was imposed in the state due to prolonged ethnic violence.
As part of the RSS’s centenary celebrations, Bhagwat arrived in Guwahati on November 17 for a four-day tour to Assam, marking an important leg of the organisation’s nationwide programmes commemorating its 100th year. RSS chief interacted with eminent citizens, intellectuals, scholars, editors, writers, and entrepreneurs in Guwahati.
Bhagwat’s visit comes at a time when the RSS is intensifying its engagement in the Northeast region, where it has significantly widened its presence over the past decade. The Sangh’s centenary celebrations have been projected as an opportunity to strengthen its ideological footprint and connect with a wider cross-section of society.
IANS
