Manipur Violence: Sikkim CM urges Manipur CM to take care of Sikkimese people

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Friday spoke to his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh and urged him to take care of the Sikkimese students and citizens staying in the stateSingh assured Tamang that the Manipur government will provide all possible assistance to the Sikkimese students and citizens in Manipur the Sikkim CM said in a social media postI urge all Sikkimese citizens in Manipur to remain calm and carry an identification card with them at all times Tamang said adding that the Sikkimese people should take care of their safety and wellbeing and remain indoors or in a safe location Tamang said he was constantly monitoring the situation in Manipur and will do everything possible to ensure the safety of Sikkimese students and citizens and requested the parents guardians and relatives not to panicTamang said that Rameshwar Singh Manipur MLA and the PRO Chief Ministers Office RM Pradhan are coordinating and monitoring the situationThey can be contacted at the following numbers Rameshwar Singh 7085436983 8730965059 PRO Government of Sikkim RM Pradhan 97351 23333According to the Sikkim CMs Press Secretary Bikas Basnet there are 80 students of Sikkim studying in Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and 25 students in Central Agriculture University in Imphal Meanwhile Sikkim Chief Secretary V B Pathak held an emergency meeting to review wellbeing safety and security of students from Sikkim who are pursuing professional courses in ImphalIn the meeting Pathak informed senior officials that necessary measures were being taken by the state government on the direction of Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang to ensure that requisite assistance for the safety and security of the students from Sikkim in Manipur The Sikkim chief secretary said that adequate force has been deployed in the colleges and hostels where the students from Sikkim are studying and residing in ManipurAlso read Manipur CRPF officers tasked to oversee security forces RAF deploymentOn the directive of the chief secretary a helpline number 03592 299959 8 am8 pm has been set up at Tashiling Secretariat in Gangtok for the students of Sikkim in Manipur in case of any emergency Pathak said the Sikkim government would remain in constant touch with Manipur government to keep stock of the ongoing situation in Manipur and assured necessary assistance in case of an exigencyThe meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary Home A S Rao Director General of Police A K Singh IPR Secretary Namrata Thapa and other officialsThe Imphal Valley in Manipur remained peaceful but tense on Friday however intermittent gunfights between militant groups and security forces were reported from the hill districts surrounding the valleyViolence first erupted in Torbung area in Manipurs Churachandpur district during the Tribal Solidarity March organised by All Tribal Student Union Manipur ATSUM on Wednesday to protest the demand of Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe ST statusDuring the march in Torbung an armed mob allegedly attacked people of the Meitei community leading to retaliatory attacks in the valley districts which escalated the violence throughout the state police said Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of population in Manipur and live mostly in the Imphal Valley Tribals who include Nagas and Kukis account for another 40 per cent of the population and live mostly in the hill districts which surround the ValleyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever