Amid bus row, Meitei group COCOMI says it will meet Home Ministry officials on Tuesday

Imphal, May 25 (PTI) A seven-member delegation of COCOMI, an umbrella body of Meitei groups, will meet Union Home Ministry officials in New Delhi on Tuesday and discuss the present situation in Manipur, particularly the row over hiding the state's name on a government bus in Gwaltabi, its convenor Khuraijam Athouba said.

He said the agenda for the meeting includes the demand for a public apology from Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla over the Gwaltabi incident, and the removal of the chief secretary, DGP, and security advisor.

"The central government and COCOMI have been communicating. The Ministry of Home Affairs has extended an invitation to COCOMI (Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity) for an exclusive meeting. The meeting is scheduled on Tuesday," Athouba said.

"Our aim is to push forward the pending political and security processes regarding the prolonged crisis. However, the agenda has now expanded in light of the recent Gwaltabi incident and the resulting public unrest," he added.

Reiterating the demand for resignation or transfer of the top three officers, he claimed that they are "viewed as incompetent and responsible for making anti-state decisions which have added to the deteriorating situation".

It was alleged that security forces had stopped a state-run bus, on which journalists were being taken by the government to cover the Shirui Lily festival in Ukhrul district on May 20, near the Gwaltabi checkpost and forced the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) staffers to cover the state's name written on the windshield with a white paper.

"The Gwaltabi incident has been further aggravated by the continued inaction and ignorance of the governor and state administrators under the President's Rule," Athouba alleged.

He also raised concerns over the use of "force" by the security personnel on "unarmed people" demonstrating over the incident in Imphal.

"The deployment of such aggressive crowd control measures against unarmed civilians, many of whom were elderly women, is deeply concerning and unbecoming of a democratic and sensitive administration... The injury of several women protestors is unacceptable," he said.

A scuffle broke out between protesters and security forces earlier in the day while they were on the way to gherao the Raj Bhavan over the Gwaltabi incident. PTI CORR SOM