Manipur peace talks led by Amit Shah, PM Modi takes updates every 3 hours

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is leading the Centre's mutiple rounds of peace talks with the Kuki and Meitei communities in connection with the Manipur ethnic clashes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been taking updates on the ongoing meetings, usually every three hours. According to government sources, a total of six rounds of talks have been convened with each community. In a bid to temper passions, the government has held separate rounds of talks with representatives of Kuki and Meitei groups. 

Talks with both sides are at an advanced stage and the focus is on finding ways to end the violent conflict. Sources stated an agreement may be close at hand. Following a wave of violence due to ethnic clashes in Manipur, no new deaths have been reported after July 17. The state seems to be inching towards normalcy with 82% attendance in schools and 72% attendance in offices. 

CBI to take over Manipur video case

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to take up the Manipur video case. The video, which showed two women stripped, paraded naked and sexually assaulted, is said to have been shot on May 4. The person who shot the video was arrested on Thursday, July 27.   

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is going to refer the Manipur viral video case to the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI). The videographer who recorded the video has been arrested and the mobile phone from the video was shot has also been seized. The Centre will also file an affidavit in Supreme Court requesting the the trial of viral video case to take place outside Manipur.

More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.