IMPHAL, June 10 ( The Street Press) – Imphal East MLA Leishangthem Susindro Meitei (BJP) requested the return of weapons confiscated from the police and security guards. He appealed to the people of Manipur. He also installed a box at his house to return the weapons. It has been said that the name and identity of those who will return the weapons in the box will be kept secret. No questions will be asked about where and how the weapons came into their hands.
By placing this box in his house, he assured that everyone can freely deposit their weapons. He put up a big poster at home. In English and Meitei, there were pleas to the crowd to return the looted weapons.
On May 3, unrest broke out in Manipur around the program of the Janjati student organization ‘All Tribal Students Union of Manipur’ (ATSUM). The State High Court directed the State Government to consider the issue of Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei. Soon after this, Janjati organizations came out in opposition to it. Clashes between the indigenous Meitei community and some scheduled tribes including the Kuki, Zo, and others turned violent. During the conflict, arms were looted from police stations in various parts of the state in early May. Many weapons were looted. Through this, the violence level in Manipur transcends boundaries.
Since then, the Manipur administration, state Chief Minister N Biren Singh and even Union Home Minister Amit Shah have appealed to the residents to surrender with arms. This time BJP MLA was seen placing the box to return the weapon. According to news agency PTI, several weapons have already been deposited in the box placed in the MLA’s house. Among the weapons deposited were some automatic rifles and ammunition.
100 people have lost their lives in Manipur violence so far. The number of seriously injured is about 500. More than 25 thousand people have been displaced due to violence. The state police, army and paramilitary forces are currently trying to restore peace in the northeastern state. On Friday, they recovered 35 weapons in a joint operation. Efforts are underway to recover more weapons.
