Imphal, August 23 2009: Senior Citizens for Society (SCS) has urged the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to restore peace and normalcy in Manipur and to impose rule of law in the state to restore people's confidence in the democratic system.

Highlighting the scores of incidents of lawlessness in the state, a memorandum of the SCS, addressed to the Prime Minister stated that such mayhems in the state have brought life to a grinding halt and caused untold sufferings to the people.

"Thousands of Manipuri people have been killed either by the underground outfits or by the security forces in the last five years," the memo noted.

Stating that the recent incident of killing Sanjit and a pregnant woman Rabina on July 23 at Khwairamband Bazar was a clear case of fake encounter and perceived to be state sponsored terrorism, the memo pointed out that there are frequent incidents of brutal murders and gross violation of human rights in the state.

The memo stated the cases of killings of Dr Kishan and two of his staffs in February, abduction and murder of L Satish, broad daylight murder of Prof Islamuddin in May, killings of contractor Krishnadas in June, unabated serial killing of non-locals, constant bomb-attacks on hospitals, schools, and private houses by extortionists are some of the most shocking incidents of crime in the recent past.

"The most unfortunate part of the story of crime and bloodshed in the state is the ever increasing trend of involvement of the security personnel in numerous cases of killing and extortion," the SCS representation observed.

The memo strikes: "People have no longer any trust in the security forces and the state administration," while pointing out the involvement of security personnel in various cases of killing in the state.

Noting that there is complete anarchy in the state, the senior citizens' memo stated that common people are victims of the atrocities of both the state and non-state actors.

It further stated the 'Tehelka' expose of the unfortunate incident of Khwairamband on July 23 sparked off mass protests in the entire state demanding the resignation of the CM.

The government of Manipur is no longer able to control the situation apart from imposing frequent curfews that cause inconveniences to the people, it stated.

"In the prevailing situation, people have lost confidence in the state government," it states while adding, "there is no other alternative except for the direct intervention by the Central government for the restoration of peace and normalcy in the state".

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