Centre Constitutes 3-Member Commission To Probe Manipur Violence

The Centre on Sunday appointed a three-member Commission of Inquiry headed by former Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Justice Ajai Lamba to probe incidents of violence in Manipur.

Former IAS officer Himanshu Shekhar Das (retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1982 batch of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre) and former IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar (a 1986 batch retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Telangana cadre) are also on the Commission.

The commission will make inquiry with respect of the causes and spread of the violence and riots targeting members of different communities, which took place in Manipur on May 3 and thereafter, a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry said. It will probe the sequence of events leading to, and all the facts relating to such violence; whether there were any lapses or dereliction of duty in this regard on the part of any of the responsible authorities/individuals and adequacy of the administrative measures taken to prevent, and to deal with the violence and riots, PTI reported.

The inquiry by the commission shall look into the complaints or allegations that may be made before it by any individual or association. The commission shall submit its report to the central government as soon as possible but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting.

The commission, however, if it deems fit, can make interim reports to the central government before the said date. The other members of the commission are retired IAS officer Himanshu Shekhar Das and retired IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar. Manipur has been witnessing sporadic violence ever since ethnic clashes broke out on May 3. The death toll from clashes has gone up to over 80, officials said.

The ethnic violence first broke out after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

Home Minister Amit Shah has also appealed to the people of Manipur to lift blockades at the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway-2.

"My sincerest appeal to the people of Manipur is to lift the blockades at the Imphal-Dimapur, NH-2 Highway, so that food, medicines, Petrol/Diesel, and other necessary items can reach the people. I also request that Civil Society Organisations do the needful in bringing consensus. Together only we can restore normalcy in this beautiful state," the Union Home Minister tweeted.