Under pressure, Manipur moves Assam Rifles out of key point | India News – Times of India

GUWAHATI: The security establishment in strife-torn Manipur Monday ordered the withdrawal of the Assam Rifles from a critical checkpoint at Moirang Lamkhai in Bishnupur district after hundreds of women activists took to the streets at several places, accusing the central paramilitary force of brutality towards civilians in the valley districts.

The additional DGP (law and order) issued an order stating that police and CRPF units would replace the 9 Assam Rifles with immediate effect at the checkpoint along Bishnupur-Kangvai Road.

Besides the Meira Paibis, or a collective of “women torchbearers”, some BJP legislators and organisations had been demanding that the Assam Rifles be recalled.

Groups of women in traditional red attire blocked roads at multiple locations, including Tiddim Road that leads to Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts, the flashpoints of the violence over the weekend in which six people were killed and 16 wounded.
One group was stopped by police from marching into the Assam Rifles post at Singjamei in Imphal. Demonstrations also took place at Kwakeithel and Uripok in Imphal West district, Angom and Khurai in Imphal East district, and in parts of Thoubal and Bishnupur. The wave of public sentiment against the Assam Rifles intensified after the emergence of a video purportedly showing police personnel arguing with members of the paramilitary force over their style of operation.

Assam Rifles officials contested allegations of wrongdoing, saying their sole motive was restoring order in a state riven by ethnic conflict since May 3.
Curfew in Imphal East and West districts was relaxed from 5am to noon Monday to enable people to stock up on food and medicines.
In New Delhi, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity representing Meitei civil society submitted a memorandum to the PMO, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to safeguard Manipur’s territorial integrity and start an NRC exercise to identify illegal immigrants. “The present conflict is not a religious one, nor a conflict between tribals and non-tribals…In many areas, even with tribal majority, there is no tension,” the memorandum states. The resolutions adopted at COCOMI’s July 29 rally in Imphal include “an end to the present conflict” and “elimination of Chin-Kuki narco-terrorism”.
The move by COCOMI comes ahead of Union home minister Amit Shah’s scheduled meeting on Tuesday with a four-member delegation of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF).