GUWAHATI: Five Supreme Court and high court judges on a two-day visit to Manipur emphasised Sunday the need to find constitutional solutions through dialogue, reports Mukut Das.
“Everything can be resolved through constitutional means. If there is dialogue, the solution will not be distant. People staying in relief camps wish to return to their homes. I am certain that with the efforts of the governor, peace and normalcy will soon be restored in Manipur,” SC’s Justice BR Gavai, who led the delegation, said on the second and final day of their trip.
Speaking at the 12th anniversary of establishment of Manipur HC in Imphal alongside junior Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Justice Gavai emphasised that the delegation was sure everyone in the state wanted peace.
The judges had on Saturday visited relief camps in tribal-dominated Churachandpur in the hills and Bishnupur district in Imphal valley. Hundreds of Meiteis and Kukis living in these separate camps had pleaded with the judges to help restore their homes and lands lost in the violence.
Meghwal described the judges’ visit as a “commendable gesture”. “We have progressed in the process of restoring peace and will need to move further ahead,” he said.
On Sunday, SC’s Justice N Kotiswar Singh affirmed that the challenges in Manipur could be surmounted if people adhered to the Constitution, recalling that the judges witnessed considerable optimism during their visits to the camps. Justice Singh -a Meitei judge -had not gone to Churachandpur Saturday due to opposition from a local legal group but joined in Bishnupur.
“Churachandpur has a rich tradition and a vibrant community. Numerous people from Imphal used to visit Churachandpur for various reasons… Churachandpur has produced two eminent judges of Manipur HC,” Justice Singh said.