GUWAHATI: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has rushed to New Delhi to meet central leaders as the protests surrounding the Naga issue back home is getting intensified each passing day.
Accompanied by a group of lawmakers, Singh left for the national capital on Friday. He has plans to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others.
A minister, who is a member of the delegation, told this newspaper that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had given them an appointment at 8 pm on Saturday.
“We are trying (to meet the central leaders). We have got an appointment of Home Minister Amit Shah Ji at 8 this evening,” he said.
The delegation has ministers Biswajit and Radheshyam besides Speaker Y Khemchand and MPs RK Ranjan and K Bhabananda.
The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) is spearheading the protests in Imphal valley for the past week demanding the Centre disclose the terms of agreement that it reached with Naga insurgent groups.
The protestors are worried about Manipur’s territorial integrity given the Naga rebels’ demand for the creation of a unified Naga homeland, called Greater Nagaland, by integrating the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur besides Assam and Arunachal Pradesh with Nagaland.
They, as well as Left parties and a Congress MLA, are demanding a special session of state Assembly for a discussion on the Naga issue before the Centre talk to all stakeholders.
The Left parties submitted a memorandum to Governor Najma Heptulla urging her to pressurise the authorities to convene a special session of the Assembly immediately so that the members can discuss and adopt a fresh resolution on the issue in the larger interest of Manipur and its people.
Earlier, the Centre had asserted that states including Manipur, Assam and Arunachal would be consulted before signing final Naga agreement.