Former Indian Army chief General VP Malik on Friday called for “urgent attention at the highest level” towards the violence in Manipur. He made the comment in response to a tweet by a retired lieutenant general from Manipur who said that the state had become “stateless”.

Ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities which sparked off last month in Manipur continues unabated as the state has now slipped into a civil war-like situation. The violence has left more than 100 persons dead, over 300 injured and thousands displaced. Nearly 60,000 are taking shelter in 350 relief camps.

On Thursday, retired army officer L Nishikanta Singh, who hails from Manipur, compared the situation in the state to that in countries like Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria and Syria. “It appears Manipur has been left to stew in its own juice. Is anyone litening?” he tweeted.

In response, Malik posted that it was an “extraordinary sad call” and tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in his tweet urging for attention towards Manipur.

Malik was the Indian Army chief during the Kargil war.

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Retired lieutenant general L Nishikanta Singh’s tweet came a day after a mob torched the home of Union minister RK Ranjan Singh on Thursday by hurling petrol bombs. On Wednesday, the home of Manipur minister Nemcha Kipgen had been burnt down in Imphal West district. On Tuesday, nine people were killed and 10 were injured in the sharpest escalation of violence in Manipur’s Aigejang village, situated along the border of Kangpokpi and Imphal East districts.

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The violence in Manipur first broke out on May 3 after thousands of people participated in a protest march to oppose the demand of the Meiteis to be included in the Scheduled Tribes category.

The protestors included the Kukis, one of the larger tribal communities in Manipur. For months now, they have been at loggerheads with the state government, and, in particular with Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who the community claims harbours Meitei “majoritarian” sentiments.