Manipur violence: Mizoram govt urges Centre to provide relief fund for displaced people

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The Mizoram government on Friday urged the Centre to expedite the release of funds to provide relief to over 11,000 displaced people from violence-hit Manipur, an official statement said. The state government has sought Rs 10 crore as immediate relief for those who are currently staying at shelters in different parts of Mizoram since ethnic clashes broke out in the neighbouring state on May 3. During the day, state Tourism Minister Robert Romawia Royte called on Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla in Delhi and urged him to sanction the fund at the earliest, the statement said. Bhalla, on his part, told Royte that the Centre will soon sanction the relief package, it said. During the meeting, Royte said that more than 11,000 people from Manipur, mostly women, children and elderly persons, are currently staying at shelters in Mizoram due to the ethnic violence in the neighbouring state.

The Mizoram government, NGOs and churches are providing shelters and food to the displaced people, he said. Stating that Mizoram is in "dire need of the Centre's help", Royte said that the state government could face a crisis if the proposed relief fund is not provided to the displaced people. He also urged the Centre to take measures for the restoration of peace in Manipur. According to the Mizoram home department, altogether 11,503 people from Manipur have entered the state till Friday. Of them, 8,634 people live outside the relief camps, while 2,869 have lodged in 35 camps set up by the government and villages, it said. Kolasib district currently hosts the highest number of displaced people at 4,109, followed by Aizawl at 3,825 and Saitual at 2,809, the statement said. The displaced people, who belonged to the Kuki-Hmar-Zomi-Mizo group, took shelter in 11 districts of the state. The Kuki-Hmar-Zomi-Mizo community, collectively known as Kukis, share ethnic ties with the Mizos.

Two Mizoram districts- Aizawl and Saitual - share a 90 km-long border with Manipur's Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts. At least nine people were killed and 10 injured when suspected miscreants attacked a village in the Khamenlok area of Manipur in the early hours of Wednesday. More than 100 people have lost their lives in the ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki community people in the state that broke out a month ago. The government has imposed a curfew on 11 districts and banned the internet in a bid to stop the spread of rumours in the state. Clashes first broke out on May 3 after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals - Nagas and Kukis - constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

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