The Chairman of the three-member Commission of Inquiry, constituted by the Union Home Ministry (MHA) to probe ethnic violence in Manipur arrived in Manipur on June 9.
Justice Ajai Lamba, former Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court (Retd.) who is the Chairperson of the Judicial Inquiry Commission (Manipur Commission) and Himangshu Sekhar Das (Retd.) IAS who is a member of the Commission arrived in the city. Both the Chairman and member were received in Imphal Airport by Vineet Joshi, Chief Secretary, Government of Manipur and Rajiv Singh, DGP, Manipur.
The Judicial Commission, under the chairmanship of the Gauhati High Court’s former Chief Justice Ajai Lamba, will start the inquiry.
On May 3, large-scale violence broke out in Manipur, and as a result of the violence, many residents of Manipur lost their lives, and several others got seriously injured; their houses and properties were burnt down as a result of arson and many of them were rendered homeless.
The Manipur Government on May 29 recommended for the institution of the Judicial Inquiry Commission to look into the causes and associated factors of the crisis and the incidents that happened on May 3 and afterwards under the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his four days Manipur visit from May 29, appealed to the public to surrender the looted weapons to restore peace and normalcy in the violence-hit State. After the appeal of the Union Home Minister, around 150 weapons were surrendered by different rebel groups within a day. Security forces recovered similar numbers of weapons during combing operations launched after the visit of the Home Minister.
Security forces on June 7 successfully recovered as many as 57 arms, 318 ammunition and five bombs from different places in the State. With this, the total recovery of arms and ammunition has gone up to 868 and 11,518, respectively.
It should be mentioned that mobs in violence-hit Manipur looted over 4,000 weapons, along with hand grenades and ammunition, creating a major security challenge for the security forces. These weapons were used in massive violence that has continued in Manipur since May 3.
Meanwhile, good news from the trouble-torn Manipur is that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2023 for entrance to MBBS/BDS courses was conducted on June 6 at 22 centres. The entrance exam was conducted at 12 centres in Imphal West and 10 centres in the Imphal East districts. Officials said that the examination was conducted peacefully and, most importantly, the students’ attendance was normal. Educationists of the State congratulate the students who, after much trouble, sit for the national level exam in a peaceful manner.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on June 4 appointed a commission of inquiry consisting of Justice Ajai Lamba, Himanshu Shekhar Das and Aloka Prabhakar.
MHA has also asked the probe panel to 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 inquiry of the Commission, whose headquarters shall be at Imphal, shall also be in regard to the complaints or allegations that may be made before the panel by any individual, or association, in such form and accompanied by such affidavits, as may be specified by the Commission.
The Commission shall make an inquiry on the causes and spread of the violence and riots targeting members of different communities, which took place in the State and thereafter, 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 or individuals, the adequacy of the administrative measures taken to prevent and to deal with the said violence and riots.
They will also conduct an inquiry to consider such matters as may be found relevant in the course of inquiry.
(with inputs from ANI)
