Aizawl, Nov 25: Lone Rajya Sabha member from Mizoram, K Vanlalvena, has reiterated the need for imposing President’s rule in strife-torn Manipur to contain the ongoing ethnic violence, an official statement said.
Vanlalvena called for the imposition of President’s rule “the first and immediate step” to contain the violence that has claimed over 250 lives since May last year, it said.
The Mizo National Front (MNF) MP said the move is the need of the hour to allow the Centre to directly intervene in the matter.
“Despite being an MP from Mizoram, I often raised the Manipur issue and the plights of the tribal people there because different tribes of Mizo have settled in Manipur before the British colonisation, and over 6 lakh of them are still living in the neighbouring state,” Vanlalvena said during the all-party meeting in New Delhi on Sunday.
Vanlalvena also pointed out the need for setting up a branch office of TUnited Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Aizawl to deal with refugee and internally displaced children from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur.
Earlier, he had pitched for the creation of “separate administrative units” for Meiteis and Kuki-Zos, as well as imposition of President’s rule in Manipur.
The ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur has claimed 258 lives since May last year, the state government’s Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh had said.
The Kuki-Zo community shares ethnic ties with Mizos. (PTI)
