Centre examines Controversial Pillar Number 81 under Manipur Territory Today

Imphal: After the high-intensity meeting by 21 political parties in Manipur on July 24, center has now sent a team of three- member which is led by Surveyor General of India Lt. General Girish Kumar, to inspect the controversial border pillar bordering Myanmar near Kwatha Khunou village under Manipur territory.

The three-member team comprises of Surveyor General of India Lt. General Girish Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (Border Management) JAV Dharma Reddy and Joint Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs Sripriya Ranganathan.

Kwatha Khunou in Manipur’s Tengnoupal is a tiny unremarkable hamlet, home to less than 10 families. But over the past couple of weeks, a pillar installed in the village to demarcate the India-Myanmar border has created waves across the state. The controversy began after Tengnoupal’s district Commissioner, Abujam Tombikanta Singh, told journalists that a border pillar, numbered 81, stood “at least three kilometers” inside Indian territory.

The team along with locals and several social organizations surveyed the pillar that was allegedly shifted three km inside Manipur. On the contrary, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on July 12 had said the India-Myanmar international boundary remained "untouched and unaffected" since its construction in 1970. Revenue Minister Karam Shyam said, “Some political rivals were portraying the issue in a wrong way.”

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