Christian groups protest in solidarity with Manipuris in Bengaluru, demand President’s intervention
Bengaluru, 30 May 2023: Over 300 people gathered at the Freedom Park from 11am to 1 pm here on Tuesday in solidarity with the Manipuri citizens who were facing violence that resulted in scores of deaths and the displacement of people in Churachandpur and Imphal, in particular, which included many from the Christian community.
Alarmingly, what began as protests against an order by the High Court of Manipur, on March 27, seeking the inclusion of the Meitei community into the State’s Scheduled Tribe list, has taken a grotesque turn. Members of the Indian Christian Unity Forum were joined by other concerned secular citizens to demand an immediate solution to the current crisis.
“The Situation and lives of Manipuri people, especially by the Christian community, have been targeted for the past few months, and it is a total violation of human rights where hundred churches are burnt, thousands of Christian families lost their dwellings, and many were killed,” said Vikram Anthony, President of the Forum.
“Unfortunately, the State and Central Home Ministries have turned a blind eye and let the situation spiral out of control. We request the President of India to intervene immediately and dismiss the present government and impose the President’s Rule in the State,” said I Stannis Raja, General Secretary of the Forum.
Those who gathered raised slogans and held placards, demanding the intervention of the President to bring back normalcy in Manipur and to protect the lives of the minorities and tribals in the North Eastern State.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Assembly polls: Rs 650 crore worth illicit cash, liquor seized; nearly half from West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): Enforcement authorities across the four poll-going states and Puducherry have seized over Rs 650 crore worth of illicit cash, drugs and liquor meant to allure voters, the Election Commission said on Sunday.
According to data shared by the poll authority, Rs 319 crore of illicit cash, drugs, liquor and valuable metals have been seized from West Bengal, followed by Rs 170 crore in Tamil Nadu.
Over 5,173 flying squads have been deployed to ensure that the complaints are attended to within 100 minutes.
Besides this, over 5,200 static surveillance teams (SSTs) have also been deployed for setting up surprise nakas (broadly, barricades) at different locations, the poll authority said.
While Kerala, Assam and Puducherry go to the polls on April 9, voting in West Bengal will be in two phases on April 23 and 29. Tamil Nadu will have assembly polls in a single phase on April 23.
Assembly bypolls will also be held in eight seats across six states on April 9 and 23.
The data, EC said, has been collated from the Electronic Seizure Management System.
While assembly elections and by-elections were announced on March 15, the Electronic Seizure Management System (ESMS) was activated on February 26.
