Decision on Biren once PM back from 3-nation tour
Fragile peace in strife-torn Manipur was further disturbed on Tuesday with warring communities — majority Meiteis and tribal Kukis — demonstrating separately despite curfew.
With the state on boil, rights activist Irom Sharmila joined the growing chorus for Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s removal. She said Biren should resign taking moral responsibility. Sharmila, who ended her 16-year hunger strike against AFSPA in 2016, opposed recent reimposition of the Act in five districts and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state would help restore peace.
Government and BJP sources said Biren’s fate was likely to be determined after the PM’s return from a three-nation tour on November 21. Meanwhile, it became clear that Biren was losing support not just among MLAs but also among Meiteis whom he represents.
Only 27 (including the CM) of the 60 MLAs in the state turned up for the meeting that Biren had called last evening to discuss the crisis in the state. Seven MLAs were absent citing medical reasons. Eleven, including a minister, Y Khemchand Singh, stayed away without giving reasons.
None of the 10 tribal MLAs — seven from the BJP and three Independents — turned up for the meeting. The Manipur CM’s secretariat today served notices to 11 MLAs, including ministers, for their absence from the meeting even as the NPP, the second largest party in the state, questioned three of their MLAs for attending the meeting. The Meghalaya CM-led NPP has withdrawn support to the Biren-led state government though it remains in the NDA and has said it could return if the CM was replaced.
The BJP alone has the majority in Manipur with 32 MLAs along with five Naga People’s Front (NPF) and six JD(U) legislators backing the Biren government. The NPP has seven MLAs.
Apart from MLAs, prominent Meitei organisations on Tuesday also rejected the resolution the meeting adopted yesterday calling for concrete steps against Kuki insurgents.
Imphal-based joint body of Meitei civil rights organisations — Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) — rejected the resolution. The COCOMI issued a 24-hour ultimatum for review of the resolution, and warned of escalated protests if their demands remained unmet. They threatened decisive action in signs that even the majority Meiteis, Biren’s own people, had lost faith in him — a development the BJP has taken note of.
On the ground, the situation remained tense with indefinite curfew continuing in Imphal East and Imphal West districts. Meiteis and Kukis held competing rallies. Meitei-dominated groups defied curfew to protest recent reimposition of AFSPA in five districts (majority of the state is under AFSPA) and killing of six Meiteis of a family in Jiribam.
In tribal-dominated Churachandpur district, hundreds marched with empty coffins in solidarity with 10 armed militants killed on November 11 in a gunfight with the security forces in Jiribam.
Meanwhile, the Meitei Alliance has shot off a memorandum to the United Nations calling for immediate intervention in the ongoing human rights crisis in Manipur following the Jiribam incidents.
SP relieved of duties after firing incident
The Manipur Government on Tuesday relieved senior SP (Operations) Nectar Sanjenbam of his duties. He was in charge when a protester died in police firing during a rally in Jiribam where Meiteis were demonstrating against the abduction of six of a family from a local shelter.
