GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday claimed the situation in strife-torn Manipur is returning to normalcy and it will improve further in the next week or so.
“The situation in Manipur is improving day by day. I am of the view that there will be more improvement in the next week or 10 days,” Sarma told reporters.
“I can tell you with the guarantee that there is much improvement in the situation than what it was a month back,” he added.
The Assam CM added that the Manipur government and the Union home ministry were working round the clock for restoring normalcy.
The last incident of violence in the state occurred on Thursday morning leaving two dead and many others injured in a gunfight.
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“We are in constant touch with the stakeholders. Even yesterday (Friday), there was a meeting in Assam and another in Delhi. Then, two days ago, there was a meeting in Imphal. A whole lot of discussions are going on with various stakeholders,” Sarma said.
He was confident there will be further improvement in the overall situation because of the ongoing efforts of the Manipur government and Union home minister Amit Shah.
Sarma, who is also the convenor of a non-Congress conglomerate of political parties ‘North East Democratic Alliance’, was hopeful that a time would come when there would be reconciliation between the Meiteis and the Kukis – the two communities locked in the conflict.
He criticised the Congress for “crying” over Manipur when the state is now relatively peaceful.
“The Congress should have cried when the situation was volatile. At that point in time, they did neither go to Manipur nor comment on the state. Manipur has now almost limped back to normalcy and they are crying after noticing that the situation has improved,” Sarma said.
Earlier, he visited Manipur and held separate meetings with BJP legislators, state BJP leaders and some civil society organisations. He also held a meeting with the leaders of some Kuki rebel groups, which signed the suspension of operation agreement, in Guwahati.
Meanwhile, Manipur remained incident-free on Saturday. Curfew, albeit with relaxation, remained in force while the ban on the internet continued.
The violence, which broke out on May 3, has so far left around 120 people dead and over 50,000 others displaced.