Violence broke out in Imphal, Manipur during a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organized by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur. The rioting between tribals and the majority Meitei community displaced over 9,000 people from their villages. The Manipur government issued a ‘shoot at sight’ order for extreme cases and deployed 55 Army and Assam Rifles columns to contain the situation. The Centre dispatched teams of the Rapid Action Force for deployment in violence-hit areas of the state.
The clashes broke out on Wednesday after Naga and Kuki tribals organized the march to protest moves to give scheduled tribe status to the majority Meitei community. The situation intensified overnight with counter-attacks being mounted by rival communities in retaliation to earlier attacks. The ‘shoot at sight’ order was issued on Thursday to all magistrates when persuasion, warning, and reasonable force have been exhausted and the situation could not be controlled.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and took stock of the situation in the state. So far, 9,000 people were rescued by the forces from the violence-hit areas and given shelter. More people are being shifted to safer places.
