Olympic medalist Mirabai Chanu and eleven other sports personalities from Manipur, including Olympian medalists, have written to Home Minister Amit Shah to find a solution to the ongoing crises in the state. Those personalities who have signed the letter and warned they would return their awards and medals if the crisis is not resolved
The Padma Award-winning weightlifter Kunjarani Devi, Indian football team caption Bem Bem Devi, and others are also signatories to the letter and also demand the unblocking of National Highway 2. “The National Highway 2 has been blocked for weeks at several locations, which has resulted in increasing the price of essential goods and commodities. Please remove the blockage at the highway as earlier.” As such, they maintained eight demands in the letter.
Amit Shah, currently on a four-day visit to Manipur, had consultations with various stakeholders, cabinet ministers, and civil society organisations for efforts to bring lasting peace to the violence-hit state. It is the first visit by Amit Shah to the northeastern state since the ethnic clashes began. Mr. Shah arrived in Imphal on Sunday night and met Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, some cabinet ministers, some civil officials, and a few local political leaders. Today he had a breakfast meeting with female leaders and a separate meeting with prominent personalities. He also held a meeting with members of civil society as a part of his outreach, and they expressed their commitment to peace and assured that they would resolve the crisis and restore normalcy in Manipur.
After that meeting, Mr. Shah tweeted that “we found a fruitful discussion with the members of the civil society in Imphal today.” The ethnic violence between the Meiteis’,hose who live in and around Imphal Valley, and the Kuki tribe, which settles in the hills, and demands under the Meiteis’ to include Schedule Tribes (ST) category, has claimed over 80 lives since clashes started on May 3.