Guwahati: Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, will visit the violence-hit Manipur after few days, an ANI report said.
According to the report, Amit Shah said that he will go to Manipur in a few days and stay there for three days. He said he will talk to people of Manipur for establishing peace.
The Minister said that the clashes in Manipur took place after a verdict of a court came out. He appealed to both groups to maintain peace and justice.
The immediate trigger for the conflict was the High Court verdict asking the government to consider the demand of the Maitei community for Scheduled Tribe status. However, it was strongly resisted by Kuki and Naga ethnic groups. Some reports say more than fifty people have been killed in the riots. Around 1700 houses have been destroyed.
Maiteis are the majority population in Manipur. But they live in 10% of the total land of the state. The 90% of the land area are hilly regions and are occupied by Nagas and Kukis who have ST status. Many Kukis are immigrants from Myanmar and have occupied large swathe of hilly regions of the state. The Maiteis cannot buy land in hilly areas as they do not have ST status.
Many Kukis are also engaged in large scale poppy cultivation. The government recently have taken strong actions against such activities and blocked the smuggling of arms and narcotics from Myanmar. The Kukis were unhappy about such moves from the state government.
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