Manipur: SC To Hear Petitions On Violence; Army Drones Placed To Keep Surveillance

In view of the worsening situation in Manipur, the Supreme Court is set to hear a batch of pleas on the Manipur violence on Monday. Apart from this, the apex court will also hear the plea of the ruling BJP MLA challenging the High Court order on the issue of Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community. 

Notably, a tribal group of the state has also filed a plea in the top court for an SIT probe into the violence that rocked the northeastern state last week. A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narashima and JB Pardiwala is scheduled to hear the matter.

Meanwhile, the central government is keeping a close watch on the situation and over 10,000 strong forces of the Indian Army, Assam Rifles and CAPF have been deployed all across the state in order to keep the situation under control. So far, around 22,000 people have been rescued from various parts of the state. 

Locals set up a relief camp in Moirang town

Amid the ongoing violence in Manipur, the locals have set up a relief camp in the Moirang town of the northeastern state which witnessed widespread protests against the demand for the inclusion of the Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. The protests occurred after the tribal communities of the state called for the 'Tribal Solidarity March' against the grant of the ST status to the non-tribal Meiteis.

Meanwhile, Army drones and helicopters were placed in the state to keep surveillance in the area on Sunday as curfew was relaxed in some parts of the northeastern state. Earlier, the state government in view of the violence imposed a curfew in at least eight districts of Manipur, including both tribal and non-tribal areas. 

#WATCH | Locals setup a relief camp in Moirang town of BJP-ruled Manipur which was hit by a spate of violence in the last few days amid widespread protests against the demand for the inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the ST category.#ManipurViolence pic.twitter.com/dRDUXKqxth

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2023

"Barring a few documents, we could not bring any of our belongings. There was a lot of vandalism and violence that happened. We are safe here, locals are helping us," ANI quoted one of the victims of the violence at the relief camp in Moirang.

#WATCH | "Barring a few documents, we could not bring any of our belongings. There was a lot of vandalism and violence that happened...there's safety here, locals are helping us," says a victim of #ManipurViolence at a relief camp in Moirang (07.05) pic.twitter.com/0ZTAteO7Dw

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2023