Oppn MPs visit violence-hit Manipur to 'restore peace'

A delegation of 21 MPs from the opposition bloc INDIA reached Imphal on Saturday to assess the ground situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur.

The team of opposition MPs will visit several relief camps to meet victims of the ethnic clashes that broke in the northeastern state on May 3.

The MPs reached Imphal by a commercial flight from Delhi.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the ethnic conflict in Manipur was sullying India's image and all parties must try and find a peaceful solution to end it.

"We have come here to meet victims of ethnic clashes and understand the problem. We want the end of violence and the restoration of peace at the earliest...the entire world is watching what is going on in Manipur," Chowdhury told PTI .

He also said, " The ethnic clashes have damaged the image of Manipur, the northeast region and India as a whole. We all have to try for a peaceful solution. We are here not to do any politics."

The MPs reached Imphal by a commercial flight from Delhi.

After their arrival, the delegation went to Churachandpur, where fresh violence has taken place, to meet victims from the Kuki community in the relief camps there.

"From Imphal, they will go by a chopper to Churachandpur due to security issues. As only one helicopter is available, the members of the delegation would be divided into two teams, and the chopper will make two trips to ferry them," a security official told PTI.

One team, comprising Chowdhury and others, would reach Churachandpur first and visit a relief camp set up at the Boys' Hostel of Churachandpur College.

Another team, comprising Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi and others, would go there and visit a relief camp at Don Bosco School in Churachandpur, a source in the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee said.

"After returning to Imphal, the team led by Chowdhury will go to another relief camp at Moirang College in Bishnupur district by road to meet victims from the Meitei community," he said.

The other team of opposition MPs will go to the Ideal Girl's College relief camp at Akampat in Imphal East district and will visit another camp at Lamboikhongangkhong in Imphal West district.

"On Sunday morning, the delegation will meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey at Raj Bhawan to discuss the ongoing situation and possible measures to bring peace in Manipur at the earliest," the MPCC official said.

The team is scheduled to return to the national capital on Sunday afternoon.

Besides Chowdhury and Gogoi, the delegation will include TMC's Sushmita Dev, JMM's Mahua Maji, DMK's Kanimozhi, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD, N K Premachandran of RSP, JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Aneel Prasad Hegde (JD-U), CPI's P Sandosh Kumar and CPI(M)'s A A Rahim among others.

More than 160 people lost their lives and many people were injured since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.