Chief Minister N. Biren Singh also called for the repeal of the free movement regime, under which people living on either side of the India-Myanmar border are allowed to move within 16 kilometers of each other’s territory without any documents. “The government had suspended mobile internet services on May 3 to stop the spread of fake news, propaganda and hate content, but as the situation has improved, mobile internet services will be resumed from today,” Singh said at a press conference here. Will be restored across the state.
The chief minister said the government would continue to tackle the problem of influx of “illegal immigrants”. He stressed the need for fencing the India-Myanmar border. “The Union Home Ministry has taken steps to erect fencing along the 60-km long international border in Manipur,” Singh said.
The Chief Minister claimed that the current situation is not due to any recent decision but is the result of unplanned policies of the previous governments. He said, “Our government has requested the Union Home Ministry to end the free movement system.”
The Chief Minister strongly condemned the bandh culture and “widespread incidents of abuses against MLAs, ministers and police officers”, saying it had “distracted people from the real issues and led to conflict among themselves”. He said, “The situation has improved in the last two months and incidents of firing have reduced due to the deployment of security forces in sensitive areas.”
N. Biren Singh claimed that a nationwide survey had found that there has been an increase in drug abuse by the youth of the state and that is why his government had launched a “war against drugs” in 2018. “This will continue… it will be carried out more vigorously to destroy opium cultivation in the mountains,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the incidents of extortion, kidnapping and other crimes by miscreants pretending to be policemen have increased. Singh said, “We have to continue to focus on the important issues of the state like tackling the problem of illegal immigrants, running welfare activities for internally displaced people and solving the problem of large-scale cultivation of opium. He said, “Our government is taking several initiatives with the aim of establishing rule of law in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Moreh and Imphal.”
Caste violence broke out in the state on May 3 after a tribal solidarity march was organized in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, in which more than 175 people have died so far and Hundreds of other people have been injured. People of the Meitei community constitute about 53 percent of the population of Manipur and they mostly live in the Imphal Valley. At the same time, the population of Naga and Kuki tribals is more than 40 percent and they mostly live in the hilly districts.
