While the Lok Sabha debates on the Manipur issue, leaders of both tribals and Meitei community are lobbying in New Delhi and holding meetings with Home Ministry officials.
A meeting between Home Minister Amit Shah and leaders of Manipur's Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) was scheduled to take place on Tuesday but was not held as the Minister was busy with the Parliament session.
Senior ITLF leader and spokesman Ginza Vualzong said that the meeting with the Union Home Minister would now be held on Wednesday and they held meetings with the Home Ministry officials on Tuesday.
On the other hand, leaders of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of the Meitei community, also held meetings with Central government officials in Delhi.
COCOMI spokesman Khuraijam Athouba said that his organisation vehemently opposed the Union Government's intention to "engage in talks with the self-proclaimed ITLF".
"This group is at the forefront of individuals directly involved in the ongoing violence in Manipur. Their members are known to be leaders of the immigrant Chin-Kuki Narco-Terrorist organisations, coercing innocent Kuki civilians into participating in violent activities. The Manipuri populace has been exposed to numerous video footage and images depicting these members brandishing sophisticated sniper rifles and operating drone cameras from hilltop locations within Manipur," the COCOMI alleged in a statement, issued from Delhi.
Accusing Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga of supporting ITLF’s activities, the COCOMI spokesman said that various instances have emerged where the Chief Minister of Manipur has vehemently protested against the unwarranted interference in the state's internal affairs.
The COCOMI has been strongly opposing the ITLF and other tribal organisations’ demands for separate administrations (equivalent to separate state) for the tribals in Manipur.
Meanwhile, a four member delegation of the ITLF went to Delhi on Monday to meet the Union Home Minister to press for its demands, which include a separate state for the tribals. The other demands of the ITLF include state police and commando forces should not be deployed in the hill areas of Manipur, inmates lodged in the jails in Imphal should be shifted to others states of the country, and legalisation of a site for mass burial of tribals killed during the ethnic violence
"We will press for early solutions to our demands as the Manipur situation, due to the misgovernance of the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh-led government, has been deteriorating fast. Tribals are victims due to the state government’s anti-tribal governance," Vualzong, who is also a member of the ITLF delegation, told IANS over phone.
Meanwhile in Manipur, security has been further tightened ahead of Wednesday's mass rally, to be organised by the United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of the Nagas in Manipur. The UNC would hold a mass rally in the Naga areas of the state for resolving the decades-old Naga political issue based on the Framework Agreement, signed on August 3, 2015.
The apex Kuki tribal body Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has announced to support the UNC’s mass rally in four Naga-dominated districts -- Tamenglong, Chandel, Ukhrul, and Senapati.
India hit 8 military bases in Pakistan, including Sialkot station: Centre
India responded strongly to Pakistan’s repeated drone and missile attacks and hit at least eight military targets inside Pakistan on Friday night with precision, thereby causing significant damage, the Centre told the Press, as part of a special briefing on 'Operation Sindoor'.
Pak troops moving into forward areas, Indian forces in high state of operational readiness: Govt
India on Saturday said that Pakistan was escalating tensions along the Western border by moving troops into forward areas, suggesting an offensive intent to intensify hostilities.
Pak fired high-speed missile, tried to hit health facilities, schools but was thwarted: Centre slams escalation bid
The Centre, in a special briefing on 'Operation Sindoor' on Saturday, called out Pakistan’s brazen attempt to escalate the matter by repeatedly targeting India’s military as well as civilian centres and also slammed the state-sponsored propaganda machinery for spewing canards.
Coded messages in phones of 2 arrested JMB men in Bengal show links with other fundamentalist groups
The West Bengal Police recovered several coded and encrypted messages from the mobile phones of Aazmal Hossain and Saheb Ali Khan, the two Indian associates of Bangladesh-based Islamic fundamentalist group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
Marco Rubio reaches out to real centre of Pakistan power, talks to army chief
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has finally reached out to the real centre of Pakistan's power, Army Chief Asim Munir, after talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to de-escalate tensions with India failed.
Responded in measured fashion to continued Pakistani provocations: India
Addressing the press conference on 'Operation Sindoor', Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, along with Indian Army Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, briefed the nation about the current situation along the India-Pakistan border.
Multiple enemy-armed drones in Amritsar destroyed: Indian Army
Multiple enemy-armed drones were spotted flying over Khasa Cantonment in Amritsar in Punjab and they were instantly engaged and destroyed by air defence units, the Indian Army said on Saturday.
Indian armed forces destroy Pakistani posts, launch pads; intercept multiple Pakistani drones
In yet another befitting reply to Pakistan's nefarious activities, the Border Security Force (BSF) has completely destroyed a Pakistani post and a terrorist launch pad in Looni, District Sialkot, opposite Akhnoor area, from where the tube drones were being launched to attack India.