Members of Kuki, other tribes protest at Jantar Mantar, demand Centre's intervention in Manipur
New Delhi (PTI): Hundreds of women from the Hmar, Kuki, Mizo and Zomi tribes staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Monday, demanding a "fair intervention" by the central government to put an end to the prevailing tensions in Manipur.
The protesters gathered at the demonstration site holding posters and national flags and raised slogans demanding justice. They continued the protest even as it rained.
"When I woke up this morning, I saw our chief minister has said Kukis are terrorists... We have been made homeless in our own home," one of the protesters said from a dais.
"We are Indians, our forefathers have been freedom fighters," another protester added, amid chants of "We Are Indians" from the crowd.
"We are not illegal immigrants," she added.
The protesters raised slogans, saying they trust the central government, not the state government.
Ethnic clashes, which have claimed over 75 lives, first broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.
Around 140 columns of the Indian Army and Assam Rifles, comprising over 10,000 personnel, besides those from other paramilitary forces, had to be deployed to bring back normalcy in the northeastern state.
On 29" May 2023, the ALL MANIPUR KUKI-ZO TRIBAL WOMEN, DELHI & NCR held a sit-in protest against the state-sponsored targeted violence on the Kuki-Zomi-Mizo-Hmar tribals of Manipur, demanding the Central Government's fair intervention on the ongoing ethnic cleansing.
— KSO Delhi & NCR (@KSODelhi) May 29, 2023
Their… pic.twitter.com/5Y6BT8k42o
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Remove 20 per cent export duty on onions: Ajit Pawar to Centre
Nagpur (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday urged the BJP-led Centre to remove the 20 per cent levy on onion exports and provide relief to the grower of the bulbous vegetable.
In a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Pawar highlighted the issues concerning farmers from Nashik district, where onion is grown in large quantities.
“The onions grown here (in Nashik) are available in other states of India and also exported in large quantities. As of today, onions from the summer yield have been exhausted and the fresh crop has reached various (Agriculture Produce) Market Committees in Maharashtra,” Pawar wrote.
Due to the arrival of a large stock of onions, farmers are now in distress as they are forced to sell their produce at a much lower rate since they have yet to receive any minimum support price, said Pawar. They are selling onions at an average of Rs 2,400 per quintal, he said.
Unseasonal rains and changing climate have already caused a huge dent in the earnings of onion farmers, wrote the NCP leader, who is currently in Nagpur for the Winter Session of Maharashtra's state legislature.
NCP is a partner of the BJP in the ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra.
If they are further made to receive a rate less than the production cost, the onion farmers will incur a huge loss, said the deputy CM.
Onions from Maharashtra are in great demand abroad, he said. While Maharashtra is the largest onion-producing state in the country, Lasalgaon in the Nashik district has Asia’s largest wholesale market for it.
The Centre has levied a 20 per cent duty on the export of onions due to which the kitchen staple from the state loses its competitiveness in international markets, according to farmers.
The 20 per cent export duty on onions should be removed so that the farmers can heave a sigh of relief and recover some of their losses, Pawar wrote in the letter to Goyal.
