Amit Shah asks Manipur CM to accelerate peace process, approves formation of all-woman police battalion

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday (April 1, 2026) asked Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh to accelerate the ongoing peace process in the State and approved the creation of an all-woman police battalion, according to a Manipur Government statement.

Mr. Singh called on the Home Minister at Parliament House complex, where the two leaders discussed the law and order situation in the State.

During the meeting, Mr. Shah asked the Chief Minister to accelerate the peace process and consolidate the growing bonhomie among different communities, the statement said.

“Reviewing the prevailing security scenario in Manipur with the Chief Minister, Mr. Shah agreed in principle to raising a Mahila India Reserve Battalion (IRB) for the State and asked Mr. Singh to send the proposal,” the statement said.

Ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities erupted in the State on May 3, 2023, which has claimed around 250 lives so far. The State was placed under President’s Rule on February 13, 2024, and Mr. Singh assumed the office as Chief Minister on February 4 this year.

Meanwhile, the burial of Vungzagin Valte, a BJP MLA from Manipur who was assaulted by a mob in Imphal on May 4, 2023 and passed away at a hospital in Haryana’s Gurugram on February 21, is yet to take place.

His body is being preserved at the morgue of Churachandpur district hospital.

Family members and Zomi community leaders have put forth certain conditions before the last rites are performed. To press for their demands—including a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the assault and a political solution—the Zomi Coordination Committee (ZCC) was formed.

On March 31, the ZCC said that the month-long Zomi National Mourning, observed in honour of the MLA, has concluded, and in the absence of a meaningful response from the authorities concerned on the issues of justice and accountability, democratic agitations would begin across Zomi areas in a phased and coordinated manner with immediate effect.