New Delhi: As Manipur continues to remain in the grip of ethnic strife since violence first broke out on May 3, 2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that because of the “timely intervention” by the central government and the “efforts” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government, there has been a “marked improvement” in the situation in the state.
“We believe that it is our collective responsibility to deal with the situation sensitively. I have already spoken about this in the Parliament. We’ve dedicated our best resources and administrative machinery to resolving the conflict. Because of the timely intervention of the Government of India and efforts made by the Government of Manipur, there has been a marked improvement in the situation of the state,” he said in an interview with The Assam Tribune on Monday (April 8).
“Home Minister Amit Shah stayed in Manipur while the conflict was at its peak, holding 15-plus meetings with various stakeholders to help resolve the conflict. The Central Government has been consistently extending its support, as required by the state Government. The process of relief and rehabilitation is ongoing. Remedial measures undertaken include a financial package for the relief and rehabilitation of people living in shelter camps in the state.”
From breaking his silence only 79 days after the violence started in the northeastern state, to being forced to speak inside parliament because of a no-confidence motion against his government, to his failure to visit the strife-torn state along with the continued violence and collapse of law and order in the state in the last eleven months shows that Modi’s claim on “timely intervention” rings hollow.
Toll of violence
According to data put out by Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey on February 28, a total of 219 people have been killed since May 3, 2023.
The Wire has earlier reported, putting this data into perspective by comparing this toll to Jammu and Kashmir-considered as the benchmark of internal disturbance in the country- which saw 13 civilian killings between January and November 15, 2023, according to a reply in parliament by MoS home Nityananda Rai in December.
The governor’s data also states that 187,143 persons were placed under preventive detention and later released. At least 10,000 FIRs have been lodged in connection with the violence.
File photo of violence in Manipur. Though the reason for the arrests has not been made public, it could be related to the recent ethnic violence between the Kuki and the Meitei groups in the state. Photo: Twitter/@MangteC
An indication of the failure of the N.Biren Singh-led BJP-ruled state government to probe the violence is evidenced in the data provided by Uikey, that 38 cases – all linked to arms-related violence – have been handed over to central agencies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Further adding to the questions of the state government’s role in providing justice, the Supreme Court on August 25 last year ordered the transfer of several Manipur violence cases being probed by the CBI, including the sexual assault case of two women seen in a viral video being paraded naked, to Assam. The Supreme Court has sought a status report from the state government CBI, NIA, last month.
Eleven months on, a total of 50,000 internally displaced persons are living in relief camps across the north eastern state.
Weapons looted, continued violence
While Modi has claimed that the “best resources and administrative machinery” has been devoted to resolve the crisis, eleven months on violence has continued along with looting of arms and ammunition contributing to the violence.
In February, at least one person died and two others were injured when a mob attacked the Fifth Indian Reserve Battalion station located in Chingarel Tezpur in Manipur’s Imphal East district, and looted a considerable amount of weapons.
Reports of arms looted by the mob came first from the valley districts, leading the N. Biren Singh government to urge people to return them. Provisions were made at various locations across Imphal to facilitate the return of the looted arms. However, only a fraction of it has been recovered by state police so far.
Parallel state by Arambai Tenggol
Questions have also been raised about whether the radical Meitei dominated outfit Arambai Tenggol enjoys the backing of the chief minister.
On February 27, an additional superintendent of police for the Imphal West district, Moirangthem Amit Singh was abducted by 200 men allegedly under the banner of Arambai Tenggol.
Subsequently Manipur Police commando personnel across five districts laid down their arms as part of a strike against the kidnapping.
In January, the outfit had commanded all the 37 Meitei MLAs and two MPs to reach the Kangla Fort in Imphal to take an oath to maintain Manipur’s territorial integrity. Their leaders also physically assaulted two of the MLAs. The Fort was the seat of the Manipur kings till 1891. Significantly, the chief of the outfit came to the Fort that day in a police vehicle.
The two MPs included-Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh, minister of state for external affairs in the Modi government and L. Sanajouba, who is the titular head of Manipur and resides within the Kangla Fort premises. Sanajouba was sent to the Rajya Sabha in 2020 with BJP’s support and is the founding leader of Arambai Tenggol.
Modi’s continued silence
While Modi has claimed that he has already spoken about the issue in parliament, it must be remembered that it took a no-confidence motion to make him speak on the floor of the house.
On August 10, in his reply to the no confidence motion moved against his government in parliament-that lasted around 2 hours 20 mins, Modi spoke about Manipur for barely ten minutes.
This occurred despite the opposition saying that the goal of the no-confidence motion was to get the prime minister to address the ongoing violence in Manipur inside parliament.
Prior to this, Modi had maintained silence on the issue and only spoke on July 20, 2023- 79 days after the violence started-outside the parliament, after a video went viral on social media the day before – showing two Kuki women being paraded naked in Kangpokpi on May 4.
Zero visits to Manipur
Eleven months since the violence started, the prime minister is yet to visit the strife-torn state. While activists and opposition delegations have visited the state, Modi has kept away.
In the last two months Modi has visited neighbouring Assam at least twice-including an elephant and jeep safari to Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve but has not visited Manipur.
The prime minister who is known to campaign extensively across the country during elections, also avoided campaigning in Mizoram before the assembly elections in December. In October, then Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga, whose Mizo National Front was in alliance with the NDA had said he will not share a stage with Modi if he comes to campaign for the polls, citing attacks on churches in Manipur.
Modi’s refusal to meet Manipur BJP MLAs
Modi has also avoided meeting the BJP’s legislators in Manipur despite the MLAs visiting the capital several times and a letter from the Manipur BJP unit to national president J.P. Nadda to persuade the prime minister to meet the MLAs delegation.
The Wire has reported that the letter written in October that included the names of six top organisational post holders in the state including Manipur BJP chief A. Sharda Devi, came after at least three such delegations visited Delhi in June, September and October seeking to meet with Modi.
Amit Shah’s visit
While Modi has stated that union home minister Amit Shah visited the state, when the violence was at its peak, he only visited the state in the first month of the violence-since then hundreds have been killed, thousands displaced and violence has continued.
Shah was in Manipur from May 29 to June 2, 2023 and has not visited since.
In December, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a PIL seeking the centre’s intervention in Manipur and said that the committee chaired by Justice (retired) Gita Mittal was already looking into the issues related to the violence and other aspects. But Kuki civil society organisations, Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), had expressed dissatisfaction and denied that the committee had contacted them at all for the report submitted to the apex court.
Refusal to remove chief minister Biren Singh
Despite the continued violence in the state and dissatisfaction with the BJP chief minister N. Biren Singh, the party has refused to remove him with Shah even defending him inside parliament.
While speaking on the no-confidence motion in parliament, Shah said that there is “no need to change” Singh as he has been “cooperative.”
He also raised questions about the timing of the release of the video of the two Kuki women being paraded, just before the beginning of the parliament session.
On Sunday, Singh said that the viral video has been circulated by the Congress in order to “insult” Modi.
Manipur’s two Lok Sabha seats to vote in two phases
In an indication of the strife in the state, its two parliamentary seats will vote in two phases in this month’s Lok Sabha elections, (April 19 and April 26), with the state’s chief electoral officer Pradeep Kumar Jha stating that 24,500 people will be voting from relief camps.
The ethnic strife has led to the state being virtually split into two between the hill and valley districts- a first in Manipur’s post independence history.
About 50,000 people who have been displaced in the violence, are living in relief camps in five valley districts and three hill districts.
However, the 9,000-odd people of the state who fled to neighbouring Mizoram may not be able to cast their vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
