Even as fresh protests erupted in Manipur over the killing of two Meitei students who went missing in July, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted that efforts are on by the state and the central governments to find a way by which a sense of normalcy returns and there is adequate law-and-order enforcement.
"...I think one part of the problem in Manipur has been the destabilising impact of migrants who have come," he said Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in response to a question on the situation in the northeastern state in India. The news of the deaths of the students sparked fresh protests in Imphal, prompting the Manipur government to order a closure of schools for the next two days and suspension of mobile internet services for the next five days across the state.
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Earlier this month, a group of United Nations experts said they are "appalled" by reports and images of violence in Manipur targeting women and girls, and urged the Indian government to take robust action to investigate the incidents and hold the perpetrators to account. The statements were in response to the horrific images of two tribal women being paraded naked in Manipur.
The experts raised an alarm on reports of serious human rights violations and abuses in Manipur, including acts of alleged sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, home destruction, forced displacement, torture and ill-treatment. India had rejected these comments, calling them "unwarranted, presumptive and misleading”, and asserted that the situation in the state was peaceful.
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When asked about him dismissing these comments as "presumptive", Jaishankar said, "The comment wasn't made by me personally but by the spokesperson. Was that comment correct? My answer to you would be yes."
