Fresh incident of violence in Manipur, CM appeals to central government to take measures to protect regional integrity

Manipur Chief Minister N Brain Singh has expressed concern over the recent incidents of violence in the state. He appealed to the Central Government to take steps to protect the territorial integrity of Manipur. An official informed this information. He said that the Chief Minister would urge the Central Government not to give in to the demand of separate administration raised by the Kuki groups. The Manipur Chief Minister along with several MLAs and Assembly Speakers held a meeting with the Governor at the Raj Bhavan. He made this request in a petition submitted to Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya. According to the official, in the memorandum submitted to Acharya, the Chief Minister said that the Center should ensure peace in Manipur and give adequate powers to the elected state government. Call for cancellation of SOO agreement: Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bran Singh also called for cancellation of the Suspension of Operations (SOO) agreement. The SOO agreement was signed by the central government, the Manipur government and two groups of Kuki extremist organizations – the Kuki National Organization (KNO) and the United People's Front (UPF). The agreement was signed in 2008 and has since been extended from time to time. Raj Bhavan said in a statement that Chief Minister Bren Singh along with his cabinet colleagues met the Governor and submitted a petition. However, neither Raj Bhavan nor the Chief Minister shared the contents of the note. Besides more than 20 MLAs, Assembly Speaker Thokshom Sathyaprada Singh also accompanied Singh during the meeting which lasted for about an hour, the statement said. The meeting comes amid fresh incidents of violence in Manipur where at least five people were killed in Jiribam district on Saturday. The Chief Minister also met the governor on Saturday night and told the situation. According to the police, the extremists entered the house and shot dead while he was sleeping. Following the murder, massive gunfire broke out between the two communities, resulting in four armed men. Also Read- Massive fire in Arunachal Pradesh's Seppa burns 23 houses to ashes Violence erupted in the country's old state of Manipur in May last year. The state's two most populous communities, Meide and Kuki, pitted themselves against each other. Meanwhile, since May last year, more than 200 people have been killed in clashes between Meitei and Kuki. At the same time, thousands of people have lost their homes due to the violence between the two communities.