NEW DELHI, Sept 3 � With less than 24 hours to go before an indefinite road blockade in Naga districts in Manipur gets under way, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday reviewed the internal security situation in the State.
A high-level meeting, chaired by the Union Home Minister, reviewed the situation in Manipur along with Governor VK Duggal, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam and senior officers of Ministry of Home Affairs here today.
The Government of India is seized of the situation in Manipur arising out of the recent developments that have caused tensions. It is reiterated that the Government of India is committed to finding a solution to all related issues, official sources said.
The Central government has recently appointed RN Ravi as it�s interlocutor for the Naga peace talks with the mandate to find a negotiated solution in a time-bound manner. However, it is imperative that a conducive atmosphere exists for these talks to take place, sources added.
The Government of India calls upon all concerned to help maintain a conducive atmosphere and desist from violence. The Government of India, therefore, expects the Naga organisations to withdraw the call for economic blockade and the ban on national projects, which will cause serious inconvenience and hardship to the common people, sources added.
The meeting also decided to beef up security on the Highways and security forces have been instructed to provide cover to convoys of vehicles, including trucks laden with essential commodities along the two National Highways � Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati and Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar.
Sources said road opening party, comprising security personnel, would also be deployed at various parts of the two National Highways which are considered lifelines of the landlocked Manipur.
The United Naga Council (UNC) has called for blockade of the two National Highways in protest against the killing of two persons and injury of two others in a police firing at Naga-majority Ukhrul district headquarters on August 30 during a rally and against the imposition of prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC.
The prohibitory orders in the district were imposed about two months ago after the killing of an autonomous district council member by suspected Naga militants in Ukhrul town.
Some hill-based social organisations, including UNC, opposed the imposition of the prohibitory orders and organised a public rally defying the prohibitory orders during which the firing took place and resulted in the two deaths.
