Newmai News Network
Imphal: Ten like-minded opposition parties on Wednesday mocked the government’s claim that Manipur is returning to normalcy. They said uncertainty and fear psychosis still prevail among the people about what would happen in the next moment.
Addressing the media at the Manipur Press Club here, representatives of the 10 political parties also questioned why the ruling parties’ ministers and MLAs remained silent regarding the nearly six-month-old ethnic conflict in Manipur.
Spokesperson of the 10 like-minded political parties, Toijam Deban said that people are confused when the government repeatedly claims that normalcy is returning to the state.
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He said that since the outbreak of violence on May 3, the lives of several people have been lost while thousands were rendered homeless after their houses were torched or destroyed.
Thousands of displaced people at various relief camps in different parts of the state are still unable to return to their original homes, he pointed out.
The 10 like-minded political parties have repeatedly urged governments, both at the centre and in the state, to find a solution to the present conflict so that peace and normalcy return to the state.
However, no concrete step has been taken so far to end the conflict, Deban lamented.
Even as the government is claiming a return to normalcy in the state, tension is still running high in the fringe areas of the valley where new bunkers were seen coming up on the hillside, he alleged.
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Displaced people are yet to return to their respective original homes for resettlement. They are still taking shelter at relief camps opened at safer places, Deban added.
Not only this, normal vehicular movement, particularly vehicles ferrying essential commodities along the national highways serving as the lifeline of people in the state, is yet to be resumed, he further pointed out.
“This is not a sign of normalcy returning to the state. Can we say it is returning to normalcy?” the spokesperson for the 10 parties asked.
The 10 political parties also strongly condemned the government for its inability to retrieve the bodies of two missing teenage students who were believed to have been killed after being abducted by armed miscreants.
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The CBI has claimed the arrest of six suspects including an alleged prime accused in the sensitive case. “How much timewill the CBI take to interrogate and locate the bodies?” he asked.
He insisted that the state government should take the initiative to trace the bodies of the two missing students so that their respective families could perform their last rites.
Attending the press conference, All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) general secretary Khondram Gyaneshwor said that people in the communities in conflict are living on the edge.
Even as the people are crying for peace and normalcy, the government is yet to come up with a concrete step to resolve the conflict, he said.
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