Rishang Keishing buried amid tight security

Former Manipur Chief Minister and Congress leader Rishang Keishing, who died on Tuesday, was buried within the compound of his home in Mantri Pukhri near Imphal amid tight security on Thursday.

Family sources said the earlier plan was to take the veteran leader's body from Imphal to Bungpa, his native village in Ukhrul district, on Friday. But the family received a letter on Thursday morning from an armed group warning them not to take the body to Ukhrul.

The family declined to name the outfit. Accordingly, the burial date was advanced to Thursday.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, opposition leader and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and many others attended the burial.

C.P. Joshi, General Secretary of the Congress, was present on behalf of the party. He also read out a condolence message from Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Keishing died on Tuesday night in an Imphal hospital where he was admitted on July 1. He was 97 and is survived by his wife Kathingla, three sons and a daughter.

Earlier, Keishing's body was brought to the Congress office where the rank and file offered floral tributes. The party also flew its flag half mast.

As Manipur Chief Minister from 1980 to 1988 and from 1995 to 1998, he escaped assassination attempts by militants several times.

Keishing, who is of Tangkhul tribe from Ukhrul, faced death threats. On one occasion, militants ambushed him in Leishi village in Ukhrul district. Three security guards were killed but Keishing escaped unscathed.

A freedom fighter and a member of India's first Lok Sabha (1952-57), Keishing retired from the Rajya Sabha as its oldest member in 2014 after serving two terms.

Keishing said shortly before his death that he was not free to talk much in view of threat perceptions. He always spoke about integrity and communal harmony.

--IANS

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