Centre forms 3 member-panel to probe Manipur violence, seeks report in 6 months
The Centre on Sunday set up a three-member Commission of Inquiry, headed by former chief justice of the Gauhati High Court Ajai Lamba, to probe the violence in Manipur that erupted following a protest rally by the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3 against the demand for inclusion of the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
So far, 98 people have been killed in the month-long violence and 310 more have been injured, as per figures given by the state government.
This comes days after Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Manipur where he said a committee headed by a retired high court judge will monitor a special CBI team’s investigation into incidents of violence in the state.
As per the notification issued by the Union Home Ministry, the commission will make inquiries into the “causes and spread of the violence and riots targeting members of different communities which took place in Manipur on May 3 and thereafter”.
The commission has been asked to submit its report to the central government as soon as possible but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting. The notification added that the commission can make interim reports to the central government before the given date.
The commission will also probe the sequence of events leading to, and all the facts relating to such violence; whether there were any lapses or dereliction of duty in this regard on the part of any of the responsible authorities/individuals and adequacy of the administrative measures taken to prevent, and to deal with the violence and riots.
The inquiry by the commission shall look into the complaints or allegations that may be made before it by any individual or association.
The three-member commission comprises former chief justice of the Gauhati High Court Ajai Lamba, retired IAS officer Himanshu Shekhar Das and retired IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar.
The Home Ministry’s notification said the central government formed the commission on the recommendation of the Manipur government.
