Manipur masacre: Centre to take firm action against culprits

New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) The Manipur killings today agitated Members in Parliament forcing the Government to give an assurance that the Centre would deal firmly with terrorism and the culprits involved in the murder of 14 Hindi speaking people in the north-eastern state this week.

The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by Mr Ramjilal Suman of the Samajwadi Party, and in the Rajya Sabha by Mr Shahid Siddiqui of the samne party.

Responding to the Members' concern in the Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said he would convey the anguish of the members''directly'' to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and the government was already seized of the matter and would take strict action against the perpetrators.

On the issue of terrorism, the House was one and there was no question of casting aspersions. It was a great concern for the House that there was a ''selective target'' in the case of Manipur, he said.

Raising the issue in the pre-lunch sitting, Mr Suman said the Centre had failed to discharge its duty of protecting the integrity of the country. There was a parallel government in Manipur, he said, adding this was a very serious issue as similar violence had taken place in Assam and Maharashtra.

Mr Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP) said the Union Home Ministry continued to remain a mute spectator to the violence against Biharis settled in various states.

Mr Devendra Prasad Yadav (RJD) said terrorists were taking advantage of regional feelings of the people and sought a joint operation by the Centre and the Manipur government.

Mr Prabhunath Singh (JD-U) sought the removal of Mr Shivraj Patil as Home Minister and the convening of a meeting with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Mr Mohammed Salim (CPI-M) asked the Centre to treat the issue very seriously as there could be attacks on people of the North-East settled in various parts of the country.

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