Manipur: Women vendors stage protest, demand discussion in Parliament on Manipur crisis

IMPHAL-  women vendors of Ima Market staged a protest rally and sit-in, demanding Manipur crisis to be discussed during the ongoing Lok Sabha session. The protest, organized by the Khwairamband Ima Market Joint Coordinating Committee for Peace.

The women takes out a  rally from the market, and have plane to meet with the Chief Minister and Governor of Manipur. However, they were stopped by security forces before 1 km from the Chief Minister’s bungalow. After that the women protesters returned to the market premises to continue their sit-in.

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On Sunday, mass protests were held across several districts of violence-hit Manipur, against heavy security deployment and arrest of village volunteers guarding the settlement areas on the fringes of the state’s valley districts.

The protests come days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah convened a high-level meeting to review the security situation in the strife-torn state. Central forces have been deployed at various places across the valley districts in the past few days.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic violence since May 3 last year following a tribal solidarity march in the hill districts of the state to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

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Over 220 people belonging to both Kuki and Meitei communities and security personnel have been killed in the continuing violence.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.