With Elections Over, Ending Manipur Violence Must Be PM Modi's Priority

File photo of an area dominance exercise by security personnel in Manipur.

It has been more than a year since the northeastern state of Manipur has been waiting for the return of normalcy after it was rocked by ethnic violence between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zomis in May of last year. Although there were some signs of the state returning to normalcy, the recent violence in the Jiribam district shows that normalcy remains a distant dream.

It should be mentioned that the Jiribam district — with a diverse population of Meiteis, Muslims (called Meitei Pangals), Kuki-Zomis, Hmars (another tribe belonging to the Kuki-Chin-Mizo group), Hindu Bengalis, and Bishnupriya Manipuris — was untouched by last year’s ethnic violence. But last week, the flames of the violence reached even this diverse district.

#WATCH | Jiribam, Manipur: Hundreds of people take shelter in relief camps set up by local bodies pic.twitter.com/yfty1W8SnY

— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2024

The violence started after a Meitei man was killed, allegedly by Kuki-Zomi terrorists. Following this, around four to five Kuki homes were allegedly burned by the Meiteis. As a result, hundreds of Meiteis, Kuki-Zomis, and Hmars were displaced, with some even taking shelter in the neighbouring state of Assam.

This writer, through this column, has several times argued that the situation in this northeastern state remains a worrying factor — and the main reason for this is the rise of terrorism in both the Meitei-dominated plains and the Kuki-Zomi-dominated hills. Unfortunately, the ethnic violence has also become a subject of hidden propaganda for a section of intellectuals and a section of the media. This is because one side is interested in highlighting only the rise of militancy in the plains, particularly the rise of the non-state armed wing Arambai Tenggol. On the other hand, the other side is interested in highlighting only the Kuki-Zomi militants.

The fact is that all these terrorist groups — whether composed of Meiteis or Kuki-Zomis — pose a great threat to the state of Manipur. This column too has argued about this several times. What is more worrying are some of the allegations that have surfaced in the state since the ethnic violence last year — Meiteis alleging that Assam Rifles are helping the Kuki-Zomis, while the Kuki-Zomis allege that the armed wing Arambai Tenggol is allegedly supported by Chief Minister Biren Singh and the state’s titular royal Leishamba Sanajaoba, also a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.

This shows that the Centre has many tasks to do in Manipur. During the Lok Sabha election campaign in an interview with news agency PTI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that after the elections, the Centre would renew its focus on Manipur to prevent violence. Now the elections are over and the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance has come to power for the third time, with Amit Shah heading the Union Home Ministry again. It’s high time for bold actions in this northeastern state against both Meitei terrorists, including the armed wing Arambai Tenggol, and the Kuki-Zomi terrorists without indulging in any kind of appeasement politics toward any of these ethnic groups. Lastly, the Centre should also initiate a proper channel of dialogue — as promised by Amit Shah during the interview — to bridge the existing gap between Meiteis and Kuki-Zomis.

Unhappy TIPRA Motha Eyes More Portfolios in the Tripura Government

This week, state forest minister and TIPRA Motha leader Animesh Debbarma, who also holds the Science and Technology, Environment, Printing, and Stationery departments, openly expressed his disappointment with the departments he has been allotted. TIPRA Motha MLA Brishaketu Debbarma was made a Minister of State. Motha was earlier promised by its senior partner, the BJP, that the issue would be addressed after the Lok Sabha elections.

Now that the elections are over, the restless Motha has started reminding BJP of its promise. To be fair, the forest department isn’t an insignificant department — an argument agreed upon by Animesh Debbarma himself. But he is unhappy with departments like Printing and Stationery. He stated that he had spoken to Chief Minister Manik Saha on this issue.

While the Motha is eyeing another cabinet berth and some more significant departments, its image was damaged last week after the leak of the answers to the exams to be conducted by the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. Motha stormed to power in the ADC in 2021. This was the first time that recruitments to fill up 110 posts were to be held by the Motha-run ADC. But the process got cancelled after the answers were leaked. Chief Executive Member Purnachandra Jamatia said that the chairman of the recruitment board, Datamohan Jamatia, was sacked.

This leak is a big setback for Pradyot Debbarma’s TIPRA Motha. It failed to conduct free and fair recruitment. Amid this, party MLA Ranjit Debbarma has demanded an FIR to be lodged against the recruitment board and even demanded the resignation of CEM Purnachandra Jamatia until the completion of the probe. It has to be mentioned that Ranjit Debbarma, a former militant who headed the All Tripura Tribal Force, was reported to be unhappy when his party decided to ally with the BJP.

A Mockery of the People’s Mandate in Sikkim

This week, two assembly seats of the newly elected Sikkim assembly became vacant. This is due to the resignation of Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang from the Soreng-Chakung assembly seat. He had to vacate one seat as he won from two seats. The other assembly seat he won was the Rhenock constituency. The important question is: why does a candidate contest two seats in the same election? Isn’t this a waste of resources and an insult to the verdict given by the people?

More surprising was the news of the Chief Minister’s wife Krishna Kumari Rai resigning from the Namchi-Singithang assembly constituency. Prem Singh Tamang promised that the people of the constituency shall have a dedicated and genuine MLA to serve their interests. The question is: why did the party select Krishna Rai as the candidate if she was to vacate the seat after victory? This is an absolute mockery of democracy, where people’s mandate is taken as a guarantee and freedom to effect such moves.

The author is a political commentator.

[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP Network Pvt. Ltd.]