Team News Riveting
Imphal, July 28
A group of Members of Parliament (MPs) from the opposition alliance INDIA will visit Manipur on July 29 and 30 to assess the ground situation in the northeastern state that has been engulfed in ethnic violence since May 3.
The delegation of more than 20 opposition MPs will visit Manipur this weekend and will take a first-hand account of the situation in the state, a senior Congress leader said. The delegation will include Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress, TMC’s Sushmita Dev, JMM’s Mahua Maji, DMK’s Kanimozhi, NCP’s Mohammad Faizal, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD, N K Premachandran of RSP and T Thirumavalavan of the VCK.
Besides, JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Aneel Prasad Hegde (JD-U), CPI’s Sandosh Kumar, CPI(M)’s A A Rahim, Samajwadi Party’s Javed Ali Khan, IUML’s E T Mohammed Basheer, AAP’s Sushil Gupta, Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-Uddhav Thackeray), D Ravikumar (DMK) and Phulo Devi Netam (Congress) will also be part of the delegation.
Sources said the delegation had not yet received the permission to visit the interior areas of the trouble-torn state. However, earlier two delegations — one from the Left and another from TMC – visited the state.
Meanwhile, tension flared in the Tengnoupal district of Manipur on Friday as local women have blocked the road to Moreh, preventing state security forces from reaching the town.
The Kuki community of Moreh has expressed strong opposition to the presence of state forces in their area, following a recent incident involving violence between locals and security personnel.
Just two days ago, violence erupted in Moreh after a group of women, shopping for essentials during a curfew relaxation, were allegedly accosted and attacked by security forces. This led to heated arguments and the women blocking the road to the market in protest.
In response to the security forces’ actions, an angry mob set fire to several abandoned houses used by personnel as temporary accommodations. Police sources report that tear gas shells and live rounds were used to disperse the crowd, resulting in an exchange of gunfire between the mob and security forces.
