"My state Manipur is burning": Mary Kom makes appeal to Centre for help

NEW DELHI: In the wake of clashes in parts of Manipur, boxing champion Mary Kom on Thursday made a heartfelt appeal urging the Centre to help her state which she said is "burning".

"My state Manipur is burning, kindly help," the veteran boxer tweeted in the early hours today, sharing photos of violence. She tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh in her tweet.

Army and paramilitary forces have been deployed in Manipur and flag marches are being held to control the situation after violence erupted broke out on May 3 during a rally organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) Manipur to protest the demand for inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe category.

Speaking to ANI, Mary Kom appealed to both state and central governments to take immediate steps to restore peace in the State and said that the situation in the State must get normal at the earliest.

"I am not feeling good about the situation in Manipur. Since last night, the situation has deteriorated. I appeal to State and Central governments to take steps for the situation and maintain peace and security in the state. It is unfortunate that some people lost their family members in this violence. This situation must get normal at the earliest," she said.

Meanwhile, according to the sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has spoken to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and taken stock of the situation in the State.

In a telephonic conversation with Manipur Chief Minister, the Home Minister was apprised of the present situation and the steps being taken by the state government to control it, said sources.

As per sources, a few companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been dispatched in the state, however, an adequate number of Army, Assam Rifles and other Central Armed Police Forces are deployed in the violence-torn areas to control the situation.

The RRAF is a specialised wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to deal with riot and crowd control situations.

To tackle the worsening law and order situation after tribal groups took out rallies in several districts of Manipur, the state government has suspended mobile internet for five days. Along with a ban on large gatherings, a night curfew too has been imposed in several districts of the state.

In view of the situation, a curfew has been imposed in non-tribal-dominated Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, Jiribam, and Bishnupur districts, and tribal-dominated Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal districts.

As far as the current situation is concerned, two issues in the state have led to the situation. First, CM Biren Singh's move to protect the forest faces resistance from illegal Immigrants and drug cartels, and the second is linked to the Manipur High Court's recent direction to the State Government to consider the inclusion of Meitei in ST which has led to an outburst from the tribal community who are ST.

Violence broke out during the 'Tribal Solidarity March' called by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) in the Torbung area of Churachandpur district to protest the demand of non-tribal Meiteis, who dominate the Imphal Valley, for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Thousands of tribals -- who make up about 40 per cent of the state's population -- joined the processions, waved placards and raised slogans opposing ST status for the Meitei.