Manipur Assembly, Govt. buildings set on fire

IMPHAL, JUNE 18. Manipur today went up in flames with 13 people killed and over 50 wounded in police firing as demonstrators protesting the Naga ceasefire extension set ablaze the Assembly and the Chief Minister's Secretariats and Government buildings, leading to imposition of an indefinite curfew in three districts on the last day of the 66-hour State bandh.

Official sources said 10 of the 13 persons were killed in the campus of the Chief Minister's Secretariat, which was torched and completely razed. The Speaker, Mr. Sapam Dhananjay, was roughed up and seriously injured. Four legislators, including Mr. N. Bihari Singh, Mr. L. Tomba Singh and Mr. P. Achou Singh, were also injured.

Indefinite curfew was imposed in Imphal East, Imphal West and Thoubal districts since 1 p.m. The Army staged flag marches in three districts and additional para-military forces, including commandos, were rushed to the troubled parts of the State.

Police opened fire when supporters of the bandh, called to protest the extension of the ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) to the State, went on the rampage. They torched the Assembly and Chief Minister's Secretariats, the Speaker's bungalow, 15 official residences of legislators, political party offices and destroyed over a hundred vehicles, mostly Government ones.

Important documents of the State Assembly as also property worth crores of rupees in several other places were destroyed in the fire, the sources said.

Thousands of demonstrators, including women, raising slogans ``Do not break up Manipur'', ``No to ceasefire'' and ``We will die for Manipur', laid siege to the Raj Bhavan, demanding an audience with the Governor, Mr. Ved Marwah, but were stopped by the security forces.

Personnel of the CRPF and Assam Rifles were deployed at the Raj Bhavan, where senior police officials led by the DGP, Mr. A.A. Siddiqui, tried to pacify the angry demonstrators.

At some points, hundreds of demonstrators were seen moving freely in front of police and other security forces, who remained silent spectators. The demonstrators burnt copies of the Constitution in some areas outside Imphal town.

Several MLAs and former Ministers left their official residences in Babupara and headed for their constituencies after angry protesters broke in. The sources said protesters torched the residences of the Union Minister of State for Food Processing, Mr. Chaoba Singh, and the former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. L. Chandramani Singh.

Party offices destroyed

The agitators also destroyed offices of the BJP and the Samata Party while those of the Congress, the Manipur People's Party and the Manipur State Congress were set afire. The Press Trust of India office here could be saved as demonstrators, who torched the building next door, were dissuaded from setting it afire.

Trouble began this morning after hundreds of demonstrators from Wangkhei, Pureiromba, Khurai, Thangmeiband, Keisampat, Sagolband and Chingmeirong areas came out on the streets defying prohibitory orders and burnt effigies of the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, the Centre's emissary, Mr. K. Padmanabhaiah, and the NSCN(I-M) leaders, Mr. Issac Chisi Swu and Mr. Thingaleng Muivah.

Appeal for peace

The apex tribal council, Naga Hoho, favoured a dialogue between the Meiteis and Nagas in Manipur and urged them to exercise maximum restraint.

The Naga Hoho president, Mr. M. Vero, said in a statement in Kohima that the ongoing protests and bandh in Manipur, spearheaded by the All-Manipur United Clubs Organisation and the All-Manipur Students Union, were against the ``wishes of the Nagas and disregarded the sufferings and struggle for more than 50 years''.

The apex Naga council called upon the Meiteis and Nagas to usher in peace and to ensure that nothing came in the way of ``our age- old bond and fraternity that exist between the two communities''.

``We welcome any dialogue between the Nagas and the Meiteis, as we sincerely believe that any misunderstanding arising out of unfounded apprehensions can be sorted out peacefully,'' the Hoho president said.

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