Imphal, July 5 (IANS) Senior BJP leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh, on Saturday, highly praised the central government for its initiatives to restore peace and normalcy in the strife-torn Manipur and praised Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s approach to resolving the crisis.

Singh, who was elected to the state Assembly from Singjamei constituency in Imphal West district, said that as part of the measures taken to restore peace and normalcy in the state, security forces have been successfully conducting search operations to recover illegal arms and ammunition. The 61-year-old MLA said that the Central government has been taking various steps to resolve the ethnic crisis, which erupted on May 3, 2023, and has now exceeded two years.

“Among the significant measures taken to restore peace and normalcy in the state, security forces have been conducting search operations to recover illicit arms and ammunition,” the Meitei community leader said.

In a statement, he said that in the past one month, a substantial quantity of arms and ammunition were seized from various parts of the valley districts, and recently, a significant cache was recovered from the hill districts as well.

“These efforts are crucial for maintaining law and order in the state and have instilled a sense of hope and security among the populace,” the statement said. Singh said that functionaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) are engaging in talks and peace dialogues with leaders and representatives of various stakeholders, including civil society organisations (CSOs).

“These discussions have been instrumental in catalysing efforts to bring about peace and normalcy in the state. Under the able leadership of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, several initiatives have been undertaken as a first step towards resolving the ethnic crisis. His responsible and accountable approach to addressing the crisis, which may take considerable time to resolve, is highly commendable,” the MLA said, adding that it is hoped that any hardships faced by the people as a result of the crisis would be acknowledged, and necessary steps would be taken sensibly in the coming days.

The MLA, in his statement, said that the efforts of Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, members of the Governor-in-Council, security forces, and concerned officials are also worthy of appreciation.

Meanwhile, the joint security forces comprising Central and state, in a major breakthrough, recovered 203 arms, mostly sophisticated and around 160 different types of ammunition from the four hilly districts — Tengnoupal, Kangpokpi, Chandel, and Churachandpur districts — of restive Manipur on Friday.

In similar joint operations on June 13-14, the security forces recovered 328 arms and around 9,300 different types of ammunition from Manipur’s five Imphal valley districts — Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Kakching districts.

Till March 6, around 1,000 looted and illegally held weapons, including many sophisticated arms, and a huge cache of ammunition, have been returned to the security forces since Governor Bhalla made the appeal for the first time on February 20.

–IANS

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