Manipur: Army officials review security situation ahead of PM Modi's visit

Army officials have reviewed the security scenario and preparedness of the forces ahead of prime minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to Manipur on Saturday. A defence spokesman said Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar, general officer commanding (GOC), Spear Corps, has conducted a review of the security of Manipur districts, including Churachandpur, Imphal, Bishnupur and other locations.

Lt Gen Pendharkar interacted with senior officials and troops of the Army, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Manipur Police and other security forces deployed on security duty in different parts in the state. The GOC visited units deployed along the India-Myanmar border in Manipur to review the situation.

Manipur governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla also held a meeting on Tuesday with five MLAs, belonging to the Kuki-Zo communities in Churachandpur and discussed the PM’s visit. On Sunday, the governor held a meeting with BJP MLAs from the Imphal Valley region, including former chief minister N Biren Singh, and BJP state president Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi.

Modi is expected to first arrive in Churachandpur on September 13 to meet internally displaced persons (IDPs) before flying to Imphal. He will visit Aizawl and inaugurate the newly-constructed 51.38 km long Bairabi-Sairang railway project.

HIGHWAY OPERATIONS
The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of Nagas in the state, has temporarily withdrawn the indefinite trade embargo along the national highways in Naga-inhabited areas. The Manipur government has requested the UNC to lift the embargo.

The UNC and other Naga organisations enforced this trade embargo in all Naga-inhabited areas since September 8 in protest against the fencing of the India-Myanmar international border and the scrapping of the Free Movement Regime (FMR).

A senior official in Imphal said that hundreds of goods-laden and empty trucks, along with transport fuel carrying tankers, were stranded at different places on Imphal-Jiribam National Highway (NH-37) and Imphal-Dimapur National Highway (NH-2).

The official said Manipur chief secretary Puneet Kumar Goel, in a letter to UNC president Ng Lorho, requested to withdraw their agitation, and the ministry of home affairs (MHA) continued their discussion with the Naga bodies.

Goel stated in his letter: “MHA has been engaging with the UNC on the issue of fencing of the international border between India and Myanmar in the Naga-inhabited areas. The state government has also received your memoranda and representations.”

“The Central government has noted the concerns raised by UNC and other stakeholders. Accordingly, the Central government has been holding and will continue to hold dialogue with the UNC and other stakeholders for prior consultation before fencing works are taken up. The next tripartite meeting with UNC will be held on a mutually convenient date and venue,” the letter said.

Due to the trade embargo, the supply of essentials and foodgrain from outside the state has been badly affected since Monday. This has significantly impacted Senapati, Ukhrul and Tamenglong districts, with trucks carrying essential goods remaining stuck at various checkpoints.

The MHA had, last year, announced that the FMR, which earlier allowed people residing along the India-Myanmar border to travel 16 km into each other’s territory without a passport and visa, would be scrapped. Instead, the MHA had decided to adopt a new scheme to issue a pass to the border residents of India and Myanmar living within 10 km on either side of the frontier to regulate cross-border movements.

The Nagaland and Mizoram governments and many political parties and civil society groups have been strongly opposing border fencing and the scrapping of the old FMR. Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram share a 1,643-km unfenced border with Myanmar.