Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and deputy chief minister Gaikhangam (left) visit the injured in Imphal on Sunday. Picture by UB Photos
Imphal, Sep 1:
The 12-hour strike called by the All Naga Students’ Union, Manipur
across Naga-inhabited areas of the state since last evening against the
killing of two protesters in police firing at Ukhrul yesterday passed
off peacefully.
The Manipur government announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the victims.
Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who
declared the ex gratia, also assured financial help to those injured in
the police action and were undergoing treatment.
The chief minister, who visited the
injured at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences this
morning, said maintaining law and order was imperative to protect the
lives and property of the people.
“Deployment of security forces and
imposition of prohibitory orders are not to harass people. The security
personnel deployed at Ukhrul have been instructed to ensure that such
unfortunate incidents are not repeated. We are waiting for the
post-mortem report to institute any inquiry into the incident,” he said.
The chief minister was accompanied by
deputy chief minister and home minister Gaikhangam, Deputy Speaker
Preshaw Shimray and health minister Phunjathang Tonsing.
Police resorted to firing after protesters
at a rally allegedly turned violent and set two vehicles carrying
police personnel on fire.
The rally was organised to protest against
the deployment of security forces in the Naga-inahbited areas,
particularly in Ukhrul district, by the state government “in utter
disrespect of the Indo-Naga ceasefire”, state government’s “disrespect
for the tripartite talks” between the Centre, state government and the
United Naga Council on an alternative administrative arrangement, “which
has progressed to a logical stage” and the state government’s policies
that encroached upon the ancestral lands of the Nagas and other
indigenous communities.
The victims were identified as Ramkashing Vashi and Mayopam Ramraor, both from Teinem village.
The situation in Ukhrul today remained tense and highly volatile.
The district administration has requisitioned army and Assam Rifles, which kept a tight vigil.
The UNC has submitted a memorandum to
Prime Minster Narendra Modi asking for urgent intervention of the Centre
on the situation of the Nagas in Manipur.
The memorandum stated that the state
government was making all efforts to destabilise the Indo-Naga ceasefire
through militarisation of Naga areas on the pretext of law and order
and thereby prevent early settlement of the decades-old Indo-Naga issue.
The council has called upon the Naga people to be prepared for any eventuality.
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