Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has claimed to establish peace in the state in the next six months. Regarding the possibility of resigning from the post of CM, he said that there is no question of this. Why should I resign? Have I stolen anything? Has a scam been perpetrated? Biren Singh said this in an interview to news agency PTI on Thursday (August 29). On the question of Prime Minister Narendra Modi not visiting Manipur, he said that it is not necessary for him to come amid tension. The PM has expressed his views on violence twice in Parliament. The CM spoke on several issues including Manipur's loss of both Lok Sabha seats, BJP's decline in popularity, government's efforts against drugs and illegal immigrants. He said he has appointed a representative to mediate between Kuki and Meitei. Read Biren Singh's full interview… Question: Has caste violence reduced BJP's popularity in Manipur? CM Biren Singh: No, BJP's popularity has not decreased. My popularity has decreased. People's feelings are behind this. Like Biren Singh, despite being the Chief Minister, is not responding to the violence. I agree that retaliatory action will not work. The solution will be through communication. You can see pictures, videos of 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign. The expedition was the best in the whole of North East Manipur. I can say this with pride. The opposition has won two Lok Sabha seats by misleading the people and insulting me, PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah. Now we have started working at the grass root level and people are starting to understand the truth. Question: Kuki communities are demanding a separate state. What do you say on this? CM Biren Singh: We will not let this happen. Manipur is a very small state. We have 2,000 years of history. My forefathers have sacrificed for the building of the state. We don't want to break this state. The state government is ready to meet the demand of development. Hill areas need to be developed. We will also make the same appeal to Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Question: Will the departure of Prime Minister Modi help in stopping the violence? CM Biren Singh: People have made an issue of PM Modi coming to Manipur or not. PM has not come here, but he has sent Home Minister Amit Shah. The Prime Minister spoke about Manipur three times. First on July 23, then on August 10 and August 15. He also spoke about this in his speech from the Red Fort on Independence Day. He shared everything twice in Parliament. I want it to come, but not in this condition. The problem was not between the two communities. The fact issue was to find drugs, illegal immigrants. We eradicated opium plantations from forest areas. However, the main reason for the violence was the High Court order. I think it was not necessary for the PM to come amid such a tense situation. The CM referred to the High Court order the Manipur High Court had recommended in March 2023 to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to Meiti. This further increased the anger of the Kuki people. They felt that their rights were being curtailed. However, the government did not implement the court order, but by then Kuki student groups had started agitation. Very soon it turned into violence. The High Court itself had withdrawn the ST status paragraph from its order in February this year. The opposition has long criticized PM Modi for not visiting Manipur despite the violence. Question: Have you set a time frame for restoring peace? CM Biren Singh: We have started talks under the leadership of the Union Home Minister. Meiti and Kuki MLAs have met. The state government is also working to restore peace. However, the finishing touch can only be provided by the centre. I don't want to prolong this. This has to be completed in 5-6 months. The Home Minister is working a lot on this. They are doing 1-2 meetings per week. Question: An audio tape of you has surfaced in which you talk about bombing cookies, what do you say about this? CM Biren Singh: Some people are behind me. This is a conspiracy. The matter is in court. I will not talk more about this. An FIR has been registered. 226 killed in Manipur violence so far Manipur has been in violence since May 3, 2023 between the Kuki and Meitei communities over reservation. According to government figures, 226 people have died in the violence so far. While more than 1100 people have been injured. More than 65 thousand people have left their homes. Know what is the cause of Manipur violence in 4 points… Manipur has a population of about 38 lakhs. There are three main communities here – Meitei, Naga and Kuki. The Matais are mostly Hindus. The Nga-Kuki follow Christianity. falls under ST category. Their population is about 50%. The Meitei community dominates the Imphal Valley, which covers about 10% of the state. Naga-Kuki constitute about 34 percent of the population. These people live in almost 90% of the state. How the dispute started: The Meitei community demanded that they too be given tribal status. The community filed a petition in the Manipur High Court for this. The community's contention was that in 1949, Manipur was merged with India. Before that they got only tribal status. Following this, the High Court recommended to the state government that Meetei be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST). What is Meitei's contention: The Meitei tribe believes that their kings called the Kukis from Myanmar to fight a war years ago. After that he became a permanent resident. These people cut forests for employment and started opium cultivation. Due to which Manipur has become a triangle of drug smuggling. All this is happening openly. He formed an armed group to fight the Naga people. Why Naga-Kuki are against: The other two tribes are against giving reservation to the Meitei community. They say 40 of the state's 60 assembly seats are already in the Meetei-dominated Imphal Valley. In such a situation, if Meitei gets reservation in ST category, their rights will be divided. What are the political equations: Out of 60 MLAs in Manipur, 40 MLAs are from Meetei and 20 MLAs are from Naga-Kuki tribe. So far only two out of 12 CMs have come from the tribe.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
'I will not resign, I did not commit a scam': Manipur CM says – Modi's arrival was not necessary; PM has spoken twice on violence in parliament
