Law and order situation needs…: Former Army Chief on Manipur violence

Former Army Chief Ved Prakash Malik said on Friday that the law and order situation in Manipur needs "urgent attention at highest level".

Gen Malik (retd), referring to a tweet by Lt Gen L. Nishikanta Singh (retd), tweeted: "An extraordinarily sad call from a retired Lt Gen from Manipur. Law & order situation in Manipur needs urgent attention at the highest level."

Gen Malik, who served as the 19th Chief of Army Staff from September 30, 1997 to September 30, 2000, tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah in his tweet.

Earlier, Lt Gen Singh (retd) tweeted: "I`m just an ordinary Indian from Manipur living a retired life. The state is now `stateless`. Life and property can be destroyed anytime by anyone just like in Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Syria, etc. It appears Manipur has been left to stew in its own juice. Is anyone listening ?"

Referring to the tweet of Lt Gen Singh (retd), former Union Minister and Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted: "The PM is certainly not. He has time for all other things except reaching out to the distressed people of Manipur in thought, word and deed."

The devastating ethnic violence, which so far killed over 120 people and injured more than 400, began in Manipur on May 3 after a `Tribal Solidarity March` was organised by a tribal student body in the hill districts of the state to protest against the Meitei community`s Scheduled Tribe (ST) status demand.