NHRC notice to Manipur govt, DGP over killings in gun fight
New Delhi (PTI): The NHRC has issued notices to the Manipur government and the state's police chief over reports that at least 13 people were killed in a gun fight in Leithao village in the Tengnoupal district, officials said on Friday.
The incident, as reported, indicates a "lapse" on the part of the law enforcing agencies and the forces deployed to ensure peace and law and order in the state, the rights panel said in a statement.
The National Human Rights Commission observed that the reported loss of 13 lives in an area, which remained calm since the tension erupted in the state of Manipur in May this year, is "alarming and disturbing".
The rights panel has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that "at least 13 people were killed in a gun fight in Leithao village near Saibol in the Tengnoupal district, Manipur. Reportedly, the incident happened on December 4," it said.
The commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a serious issue of human rights violations and is a matter of concern.
Accordingly, it has issued notices to the state's chief secretary and the director general of police, seeking a detailed report within two weeks, the statement said.
It should include the status of the FIR registered by the police and steps taken by the state government to ensure that such incidents of violence do not take place anywhere in the state, the rights panel said.
"The state of Manipur and its people have already suffered a lot. It is firmly reiterated that it is the duty of the state to protect the life and properties of its citizens both private and public and to promote fraternity and spirit of brotherliness amongst the communities," it said.
The NHRC since May 2023 has received several complaints from individuals, NGOs and activists alleging violation of human rights during the incidents of violence in Manipur, the statement said.
The commission said these matters are being considered by the full bench of the commission and were also discussed at length, during its camp sitting at Guwahati, Assam on November 17. Senior officers from the government of Manipur, as well as the representatives of the complainants and civil society were also present, the statement said.
According to the media report, carried on December 5, the village has nine houses and around 120 residents. However, no casualties were reported from among the villagers.
Prima facie, it is suspected that the victims of the violence could even be militants from Myanmar since the nearby hills from Leithao are a common route used by them to enter Manipur, it said.
Reportedly, this is the highest single-day loss of life in the violence that erupted in Manipur this year, it added.
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2 Indian nationals part of crew of luxury cruise ship that reported hantavirus outbreak
London (PTI): At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.
The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina’s Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.
Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.
The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.
Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.
Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory.
It also said the body of one deceased person—now known to be a Dutch man - was taken off the vessel.
Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.
