A tribal group has threatened to block two national highways that are the lifelines of landlocked...
Digital Desk: A tribal group has threatened to block two national highways that are the lifelines of landlocked Manipur, alleging that there is a selective blockade in the valley that prevents necessary supplies from reaching the hills. In an ultimatum, the group has stated that it will begin the blockade in three days if things don't improve by then.
The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), a major tribal group, has threatened to close both the primary National Highway 2, which connects Manipur to Nagaland, and the longer National Highway 37, which connects the state to Assam. The action is likely to aggravate tensions in Manipur, which has been plagued by ethnic violence for more than three months.
The NH2 had been blocked at least twice since the unrest began in May. When Home Minister Amit Shah visited Manipur at the end of May, he requested groups like the CoTU to lift the blockage, and they complied.
"The CoTU wishes to express its dissatisfaction with the Government of India's goodwill mission and the groups that signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement regarding the opening of national highways against the wishes of the people. We had hoped for reciprocity from the valley people," said CoTU's Media Cell Coordinator, Ng. Lun Kipgen.
He claimed that the supply chain of essential commodities from Imphal Valley to the hill areas, particularly Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, Tengnoupal, and Moreh, had been "stalled by mobs."
Kipgen issued an ultimatum, saying, "In light of this, CoTU felt that the Centre's prescriptive policy to appease one community over the other needed to be considered. Therefore, if the Government of India fails to stop the selective blockage in the valley within three days, with effect from August 17, the people will be forced to impose a highway blockade."
Over 180 people have died and over 3,000 have been injured in the violence in Manipur, which began on May 3 with a 'Tribal Solidarity March' in the hill areas to oppose the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
More than 60,000 people remain displaced, and property worth thousands of crores has been destroyed.
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