Kolkata, Sep 4 (PTI) The CPI(M) on Monday said that the N Biren Singh government in Manipur should have taken positive steps to restore the confidence in the people instead of filing an FIR against members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI).

CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya alleged that it indicated that the government does not want any information to go out which is against their liking.

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"There is nothing wrong in the report of the guild and the government should have instead taken positive steps to restore the confidence in the people of Manipur as a whole," he told PTI.

The EGI in a report published last week had critiqued media coverage out of Manipur, a state which has seen ethnic clashes since May 3.

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Singh said his government filed an FIR against the president and three members of the EGI, accusing them of trying to provoke clashes in the state.

He claimed that at a time when many people have been killed and left homeless, the EGI published a "totally one-sided" report without understanding the complexity of the crisis faced by Manipur, the background and the history of the state.

"A constitutionally-elected government has formally lodged an FIR which indicates they do not want any information to go out which is against their liking," said Bhattacharya, the former advocate general of Tripura.

He alleged that the people of the state are vertically divided owing to the attitude and decisions of the BJP government.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)