Guwahati/New Delhi
The killing of the woman, who had gone near the school on some work but was not connected with it, could deal a serious blow to claims of safety around schools that reopened in the strife-torn State after two long months. The shooting incident that happened at Kwakeithel Mayai Koibi under Lamphel police station also casts a shadow on the schools’ reopening decision.
Intermittent gunfire was also heard in a village in Kangpokpi district early on Thursday, hours after security forces thwarted clashes when men armed with automatic weapons began to attack villagers.
The incident took place around 3.40 pm on Wednesday near Phaileng village when armed groups from nearby areas gathered in the area, escalating tensions even as about 1,000-1,500 women blocked roads to prevent additional forces from reaching the area. However, the situation was brought under control because of the deployment of Assam Rifles personnel in the area.
The Supreme Court, for its part, yet again refused to entertain a plea by two Manipur residents against repeated internet shutdowns in the state rocked by ethnic violence and gave them the liberty to approach the high court on the matter. It had earlier too turned down a similar plea.
On the political front, Opposition members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home walked out of a meeting after their demand to discuss the situation in Manipur was denied by the panel chairman Brijmohan.
The meeting’s agenda was to discuss prison reforms in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, but TMC’s Derek O’Brien, and Congress’ Digvijaya Singh and Pradip Bhattacharya submitted a joint letter to the panel chairman, saying as committee members they cannot ignore the situation in Manipur and it is their moral and constitutional responsibility to discuss this matter with utmost urgency and the requited sincerity.
They further said that some of them had written to the Chairman last month requesting an urgent meeting of the Committee to discuss Manipur, a demand which was not accepted.
