IMPHAL — New Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla is likely to assume office next
week, officials said here on Saturday.
President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday appointed former Union
Home Secretary Bhalla as the next Governor of the trouble-torn Manipur.
Replacing former Governor Anusuiya Uikey, Assam Governor
Lakshman Prasad Acharya in additional charge as he has been looking after the
gubernatorial post in Manipur since July 31.
Bhalla, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has extensive experience in managing
crisis situations in the northeastern region.
He was the Union Home Secretary when the ethnic violence
began in Manipur on May 3, 2023.
During the 18-month-long ethnic violence between Meitei and
Kuki-Zo communities, over 250 men and women were killed, over 1,000 were
injured and the conflict displaced more than 60,000 people from their homes and
villages.
Bhalla’s appointment as Governor is a significant move to
deal with the ethnic hostilities in the state.
Despite the unprecedented number of deployment of Central
security forces and partial reimposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers)
Act (AFSPA) in certain areas, violent incidents are taking place in a few
districts.
However, many organisations including the influential
Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of the
Meitei community, have been demanding to repeal AFSPA.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh recently said that
bringing a solution to the ongoing ethnic strife in the state would take time
as the situation has become complex, chronic and fragile.
The Chief Minister had said that gradually, the situation in
Manipur is improving with most of the districts remaining incident-free for the
past several months.
“The state and Central security forces along with the civil
administration are doing their best to maintain the violence-free situation and
to deliver services to the people,” Biren Singh had told the media.
