The Congress on Monday urged the Union government to immediately dismiss Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, accusing him of failing to end the ethnic violence in the state.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge made the demand two days after at least seven persons were killed in gun violence between Meitei and Kuki groups in a remote area of Manipur’s Jiribam district.
The Congress chief asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “not spent a single second in Manipur” in the past 16 months, even as violence continues unabated in the state.
Kharge also referred to reports that Singh had met Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya on Sunday and asked to be appointed as the head of the state’s Unified Command. The Congress said that the Manipur chief minister had “set a record in shamelessly brazening out his rank incompetence”.
The Unified Command takes all security-related decisions in Manipur. It comprises senior administrative and police officials and officials from central agencies including the Army, Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force and the Intelligence Bureau, among others.
The command is currently headed by Manipur’s Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh who was appointed by the Union government in May 2023 when the ethnic conflict in the state between the Meitei and Kuki communities started. At least 237 persons have died and more than 59,000 persons displaced since the beginning of the clashes.
Kharge on Monday said it appeared that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, like the prime minister, had given up on his constitutional responsibility to ensure security in Manipur. The Congress leader alleged that Shah was “busy politicking and addressing rallies in [poll-bound] states” instead of resolving the situation in the northeastern state.
Kharge called on the Centre to take full responsibility of the “sensitive security situation” in Manipur. “There should be a massive crackdown on all kinds of insurgent groups, with the help of the state forces,” he said.
Ex-Army soldier dies after crossing ‘buffer zone’ between Meitei and Kuki areas
A former Army soldier named Limkholal Mate was killed late on Sunday after he accidentally crossed a “buffer zone” drawn between Meitei and Kuki areas in Imphal West’s Sekmai area, reported the Hindustan Times.
Mate was a havaldar in the Assam Regiment, an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. He lived in the adjacent district of Kangpokpi.
In a complaint to the police, his son Thangminlun Mate son alleged that his father was abducted by members of the armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol while he had gone out to purchase some hardware items on Sunday evening.
Thangminlun Mate said he learnt through WhatsApp on Monday about his father being “mercilessly killed”.
Security personnel have been stationed between Meitei and Kuki areas to curb violence between members of the two groups, who have avoided straying into each other’s areas amid the conflict.
CRPF camp attacked in Kangpokpi
A Central Reserve Police Force camp in the Thangbuh village in the Kangpokpi district was attacked on Sunday, leading to the death of a woman due to splinter injuries, a senior police official told Scroll.
The official alleged that Meitei armed groups had attacked the camp.
At Imphal, protestors associated with the All Manipur Students Union allegedly attacked a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force, PTI reported on Monday.
A video released by the news agency showed protestors hurling objects at a CRPF vehicle, forcing it to move backwards.
The protestors alleged that the central paramilitary forces have been “mute spectators” to the violence in Manipur. They also demanded the resignation of the state’s director general of police and the security advisor.
Amid the protests, schools across the state will remain closed on Monday and Tuesday.
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