For second time minister Ranjan residence attacked,speak on riots

Imphal: A women’s rally outside Union Minister RK Ranjan Singh’s Imphal residence turned ugly when protesters pelted stones at her and demanded that he speak in Parliament about the situation in the ethnic conflict-hit state.

This is the second time in two months that the home of the junior minister for external affairs Ranjan has been attacked.
Manipur University students also took out a rally during the day demanding restoration of peace in the state. Police fired tear gas shells to disperse them as the youths crossed an area where they were allowed to rally.
The incidents on July 19 came days after a video of a group of men parading and molesting two women in the nude on May 4 in Kangpokpi district drew nationwide condemnation.
However, no one was present in the house at the time of the attack and it was not badly damaged.

Security personnel deployed at a house in Kongba area of ​​Imphal city dispersed the protesters who also demanded restoration of internet services.
“We demand that the minister speaks about the situation in the state in parliament. We want internet services back. We want to tell people what is happening to us,” said one of the protesters.
Authorities first banned internet services in the northeastern state on May 3 after clashes broke out between ethnic communities. It is being extended from time to time so that “there is no disturbance of public peace and order”.
On the night of June 15, a mob attacked the minister’s residence and tried to set it on fire. Security guards and fire fighters controlled the fire and saved the house.
A section of Manipur University students took out a rally in Imphal town demanding restoration of peace in the northeastern state.

Organized by the Manipur University Students Union, the rally started from the university gate in Canchipur here.
Police said they were allowed to go to Kakwa, about two kilometers away. However, the students wanted to continue the rally beyond the Kakway and up to Singjamei, four kilometers from the university gate.
Police fired teargas shells to disperse the protesters as they tried to cross the Kakwa towards Singjamei, leading to heated exchanges between officers and students.

The students protested the police action, saying they were unarmed and pursuing a peace rally.
More than 160 people have lost their lives, and many others have been injured, since communal violence erupted in the state on May 3, when a ‘tribal solidarity march’ was held to protest the demand of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) by the Meitei community in the hill districts.
About 53 percent of Manipur’s population are Meiteis and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, including Nagas and Kuki, make up 40 percent and live mostly in the hill districts.