At least 70 people were killed and tens of thousands have fled
\nNew Delhi
\nIndia\u2019s interior minister on Thursday demanded people in a restive northeastern state surrender guns following deadly inter-ethnic fighting during which rival forces raided police stations and seized assault rifles.
\nHome Minister Amit Shah, speaking to reporters on a visit to Manipur\u2019s state capital Imphal, warned of \u201cstringent charges\u201d for those who failed to hand in their weapons before a major police sweep begins on Friday.
\nShah, a key aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrived in Manipur earlier this week to tackle the unrest and also announced a probe into the causes of the violence.
\nClashes erupted in May between the majority Meitei, who are mostly Hindus and live in and around Imphal, and the mainly Christian Kuki in the surrounding hills.
\nAt least 70 people were killed and tens of thousands have fled. Thousands of troops have been deployed to restore order.
\nThe state\u2019s chief minister N. Biren Singh on Thursday also called for people to \u201csurrender the arms and ammunition\u201d they had \u201csnatched from armed police\u201d. Security sources also confirmed to AFP that guns had been seized.
\nLast month, local media quoted Singh as saying that battles had involved rival groups using M16 and AK-47 assault rifles.
\nThe far-flung states of northeast India — sandwiched between Bangladesh, China and Myanmar — have long been a tinderbox of tensions between different ethnic groups.
\nThe initial spark was Kuki anger at the prospect of the Meitei being given guaranteed quotas of government jobs and other perks in a form of affirmative action.
\nThis also stoked long-held fears among the Kuki that the Meitei might also be allowed to acquire land in areas currently reserved for them and other tribal groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least 70 people were killed and tens of thousands have fled New Delhi India\u2019s interior minister on Thursday demanded people in a restive northeastern state surrender guns following deadly inter-ethnic fighting during which rival forces raided police stations and seized assault rifles. Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking to reporters on a visit to Manipur\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-334866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n