New Delhi: While the N. Biren Singh’s Bharatiya Janata Party state government in Manipur has claimed that the audio tapes put out in the public domain by The Wire after they were submitted to the Commission of Inquiry are “doctored”, and has termed the news reports “anti-national” and an attempt to derail the peace process between the Kukis and the Meiteis, the chief minister’s brother, Rajendro Nongthingbam and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajya Sabha member L. Sanajaoba have issued separate threats on Facebook in Meiteilon to the “Meitei” who they think had passed the tapes on to “the enemy”.
Sanajaoba is also the founder of the Arambai Tenggol, the controversial and radical Meitei group.
Sanajaoba and Nongthingbam said that “Meitei” has been “sold out”, and that they would soon find “the traitors” within their community.
Sanajaoba, in his personal Facebook account, said on August 22: “Come on Meitei…Don’t even know the leader…I don’t want to talk, it will be problematic, will show by action…Enemies are secondary, Meitei traitors (Khelendro) should be handled first…Don’t want to talk more…”
L. Sanajaoba’s Facebook post on the Manipur Tapes revelations.
The BJP eader used the word “Khelendro” to mean “traitor”, thus equating the deponent/s at the Commission to Subedar Khonthoujam Khelendro Singh, a Meitei and a British official who had arrested the celebrated Meitei prince Tikendrajit Singh at the behest of the British after the Anglo-Manipur war in 1891. Tikendrajit was later hanged to death in Imphal. There is a road named after Khelendro in Assam’s Silchar. Khelendro is also celebrated for being the first Meitei officer to have got a gun salute at his funeral.
The Wire’s three-part series can be read here, here and here.
Meanwhile, the Arambai Tenggol, founded by Sanajaoba, is a radical Meitei group accused of openly brandishing arms in police vehicles during the ethnic conflict. It has also been accused of attacking Kukis in the valley districts, as well as Meitei citizens and police personnel who do not agree with its actions. The chief minister is said to be close to Sanajaoba, and has been seen meeting members of Arambai Tenggol.
The chief minister’s brother Rajendro Nongthingbam (also known as Rajendro Nong) first said on his Facebook page: “Those who are giving out news to the enemy, you are Meitei and don’t think that we won’t unmask you, traitor”.
This post was later replaced with on August 21 with: “We need to find the Meitei traitors who sold us out.”
Rajendro Nongthingbam’s Facebook post on the Manipur Tapes revelations. Rajendro is CM Biren Singh’s brother.
The threats indicate that the audio tapes were being considered to be authentic, and not “doctored” as claimed by the Biren Singh government. The Wire tried contacting Rajendro Nongthingbam and Sanajaoba to throw more light on the matter. But multiple calls and text messages went unanswered. This story will be updated when they respond.
The Wire, in its reports published on August 19, has said that while it is unable to independently establish that the person heard speaking on the recording about the violence in Manipur is indeed Biren Singh, it has confirmed the date, subject and contents of the meeting held at the chief minister’s official residence with some of the participants, none of whom are willing to be identified because of fears for their safety.
The Wire had underlined that some persons claiming to have been participants at the meeting assert that the voice is indeed of CM Biren Singh and that he did say all the things in the recording in their presence. Some of these persons were also able to confirm to The Wire that the full audio clip has been submitted to the Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice (retired) Ajai Lamba, a former chief justice of the Gauhati high court.
The Commission was set up by a notification of the Ministry of Home Affairs on June 4, 2023.
The Wire was informed by the purported maker/s of the 48-minute recording that this material has been submitted to the Commission along with an affidavit attesting to its authenticity from the person/s who made the recording at the chief minister’s official residence – and that protection and anonymity has been sought from the Commission as well.
The date and time of the recording as well as the circumstances under which it was made have been provided to the Commission in the affidavit but The Wire is withholding from publication any particulars that might help lead to the disclosure of the deponent/s’ identity and endanger their security.
As per official records, the death toll of the ongoing violence since May 2023, is 226 with another 39 missing, as of this May. Around 60,000 people belonging to both the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities are still displaced and unable to return to their homes. Despite official assurances, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s governments, both in the state and in Delhi, have failed to end the bloodshed. More importantly, they have done little to bridge the gulf between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.
Several Opposition leaders have sought a thorough investigation of the tapes, and some others have demanded his resignation. The ten MLAs of the Kuki community, eight of whom belong to the BJP, and two of them cabinet ministers of Biren Singh, have demanded the Commission expedite its work, and that Biren Singh be asked to resign in order to ensure his non-interference in the investigation.
