Centre strives to end Manipur blockade

New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh, along with senior Cabinet colleagues, including finance minister Arun Jaitley and defence minister Manohar Parrikar, reviewed the security situation in Manipur on Sunday as the state has been witnessing an economic blockade for the last 75 days.

Top security officials, including Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, also attended the hour-long meeting, in which various possibilities were discussed on how the blockade of NH-2 can be removed as it has crippled the Northeastern state.  

The Centre is keen to have NH-2, which is the main lifeline of landlocked Manipur, re-opened at the earliest. Security forces had managed to successfully reopen a second highway, the NH-37, ahead of Assembly polls in Mani-pur on March 4 and 8. The Union home ministry has already rushed 20,000 para-military personnel to Manipur, which has witnessed large-scale violence following the economic blockade imposed by the Union Naga Council since November 1 on NH-2, which connects Imphal and Dimapur.

Earlier, in a terse meeting, the Union home ministry had asked the state government to take responsibility for the “humanitarian crisis’’ arising out of the economic blockade by the UNC, saying that they must ensure it ends and that no one would be allowed to take political advantage of the situation. The Union home minister had already written twice to chief minister O. Ibobi Singh, asking him to ensure the reopening of the highway, but the letter did not yield any result.

The Centre had also sent minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju, too to visit Manipur to explore possibility as to how the crucial highway can be re-opened. Following his visit, Mr Rijiju had said it was completely unacceptable to have such blockades in which thousands of people were suffering and both the Central and Manipur governments will work together to end it.

“The state government has not been able to end the blockade. It must end as soon as possible as law and order is the responsibility of the state government. Nobody will be allowed to take political advantage out of a humanitarian crisis where common people are suffering,’’ Mr Rijiju had said.