Violence, deaths were misunderstandings, foreign plot: Manipur CM Biren Singh

Prefabricated houses being built for the displaced people in Imphal East district. Pic/PTI

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday said certain misunderstandings, actions of vested interests and foreign plot to destabilise the country has led to loss of lives and properties in the state. Singh said this after hoisting the national flag at the 1st Manipur Rifles parade ground here on the occasion of the 77th Independence Day function. He urged all to stop the violence. "Certain misunderstandings, actions of vested interests and foreign plot to de-stabilise the country has led to loss of precious lives and properties and many are living in relief camps," the CM said.

‘Peace will return'

The government is working consistently to bring back normalcy and the affected people will be resettled soon, Singh said, adding that those who cannot be shifted to their homes immediately will be moved temporarily to prefabricated houses. "To err is human so we must learn to forgive and forget," he said. The CM said a committee has been constituted to provide a project of "one family one livelihood" and rehabilitate the people. "The government has never done anything against the provisions of the Constitution and will never ever do such as act," he said.

Singh said the war on drugs is not targeted at any particular community or persons but was an effort by the government to save the nation and the future generation from the menace of drug abuse. "The war on drugs was initiated during the last part of 2018 as drugs were having a huge impact on the state with over 1 lakh drug users among the population", he claimed.

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Muted I-Day

It was a muted Independence Day celebrations in Manipur because of the dawn-to-dusk general strike called by multiple militant outfits and the loss of lives and property of hundreds of people over the last three months in the ethnic strife. Across rural areas of the state and in major parts of capital Imphal, shops and markets remained closed and streets wore an almost deserted look due to the general strike. More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundred were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3.