No respite from turmoil in Manipur

The APUNBA Lup, the coordinating body of 32 agitating organisations, called for a general strike from Tuesday and set a new deadline for all the state MLAs to resign. The move came after Pebam Chittaranjan Singh (32), who set himself on fire on Sunday morning, died at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences here, throwing the state into turmoil once again after a semblance of normalcy.

Talking to reporters late on Monday night, the agitators also decided to carry out a procession with Chittaranjan's body after it is handed over to his family members on Tuesday morning.

Chittaranjan had sustained 85 per cent burns after immolating himself in Bishenpur district in protest against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

The police lost no time in 'taking care of Chittaranjan's body', but the crowd outside the medical college swelled. The situation turned grim as reports of another death trickled in from Lamlai in Imphal East district-that of 24-year-old K Memeta Devi, who succumbed to her injuries she sustained during a stampede last week.

In a bid to pre-empt a volatile situation, Imphal east and west district authorities followed suit by enforcing curfew hours after his death.

In New Delhi, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) met on Monday evening to take stock of the situation. As Manipur is expected to come up in Parliament, the CCPA reportedly decided to tune its next move in line with the political consensus that emerges during the discussions.

"Manipur isn't a party issue. That's why we are for a collective (national) approach to the crisis," a CCPA member told the Hindustan Times after the meeting. The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was attended among others by National Security Advisor J N Dixit and Army Chief N C Vij. The latter underscored the need for continued enforcement of the Act.