Manipur. As a Home Minister, Amit Shah is poles apart from his predecessors. Rather than sitting in his comfort zone, Shah has made it a habit of taking any conflict head-on and leading from the front – be it in Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir or lately in Manipur. Soon as the Manipu violence broke out, resulting from an “obnoxious” single-bench Manipur High Court order, between two communities, the Home Minister plunged into action initially from Delhi, skipping important election rallies in poll-bound Karnataka. As the tension refused to defuse, Shah embarked on a four-day visit to the state, defying all odds. And, as expected, peace gets restored during his stay in the conflict-hit Manipur.Immediately after landing on Monday evening in Manipur, Shah met with Chief Minister N Biren Singh, senior members of the state cabinet and senior security officers to understand the gravity of the matter.
Spending a nearly sleepless night, he set out the very next morning to hold wide-ranging discussions with over a dozen civil society organisations, met delegations of Forum for Restoration of Peace, student organisations and also one of the Women leaders (Meira Paibis) in Imphal, while reiterating Centre’s commitment to restoring peace in the state. Before leaving for Churachandpur, the centre of the conflict, Shah interacted with a group of prominent personalities, intellectuals, retired Army officers and civil servants. Later in the evening, Shah held an all-party meeting in Imphal. Home Minister also reviewed the security situation with senior officials of the Manipur Police, CAPFs and the Indian Army. Stating that restoring the peace and prosperity of Manipur was the top priority of the government, he instructed officials to strictly deal with any activities that could disturb the peace.
On the third day of his visit to Manipur, Shah visited Moreh and Kangpokpi and had a discussion with civil society organisations. He met a delegation of the Hill tribal council, Kuki Students Organisation, Kuki Chiefs Association, Tamil Sangam, Gorkha Samaj and Manipuri Muslim council in Moreh. Shah also took briefings on security situations from senior officials. Shah also visited a relief camp in Imphal where the members of the Meitei community were residing. He left no community untouched.
Amit Shah chalks out strategy to end violence in Manipur permanently
