Manipur BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah condemning a call by another BJP MLA in the state for banning a Kuki group that has been spearheading the call for a separate administration carved out of the state.
He also asked Mr Shah to have the purported audio tapes linked to Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh investigated under the Supreme Court’s watch. The Kuki tribes have alleged the purported audio tapes – which the Biren Singh government calls “doctored” – proved the Chief Minister set the Manipur crisis into motion.
Mr Haokip, who is among the 10 Kuki MLAs that are seeking a separate administration – seven of them are from the ruling BJP – in the letter to the Union Home Minister said MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh’s call to ban the Kuki group Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) “without any credible evidence is not only misleading, but an affront to the tribal communities striving for harmony amid the ongoing violence.”
Imo Singh, who is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, belongs to the valley-dominant Meitei community. On Tuesday, Imo Singh in a post on X alleged the Churachandpur-based ITLF has been taking financial aid to buy lethal drones, bombs and ammunition.
ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong has refuted the allegations by Imo Singh.
Mr Haokip in his letter to Mr Shah dated Wednesday said the ITLF is a “respected civil society organisation” and has “consistently worked for the welfare of the Kuki-Zo community, advocating for peace and justice.”
“If MLA Imo Singh is genuinely concerned about the safety of the people of Manipur, he should first focus on the Meitei civil society organisations (CSOs) such as COCOMI and the Haomee Federation, who have been complicit in fuelling violence and unrest in the state,” Mr Haokip alleged.
The BJP MLA from the Kuki tribes said the only solution to the Manipur crisis is to create a Union Territory with legislature for his people. “… The government’s delay in addressing these legitimate demand is only worsening the situation on the ground,” Mr Haokip said.
NDTV has seen a copy of the letter and have authenticated it.
“The Kuki-Zo community has suffered immensely during this ethnic conflict… yet not a single Meitei MLA has condemned these atrocities. Instead of addressing the real issues of ethnic cleaning and violence, Imo Singh chooses to demonise a peace-seeking community,” Mr Haokip said.
Imo Singh had made the allegations after two civilians were killed and nine were injured in firing and drone attacks by suspected Kuki insurgents in Manipur on Sunday. It was the first recorded use of drones to drop bombs on civilians by suspected insurgents in India.
On Monday, another drone dropped two bombs in Imphal West district’s Senjam Chirang, leaving three injured, the police said. The bombs tore through the roof of a house, visuals taken by the police show.
“As a legislator of the state of Manipur, I seek for the organisation namely ITLF to be declared as a banned organisation. If these pictures are all true, if they are taking financial assistance to procure lethal drones, other arms and ammunition including bombs to attack innocent people, they have to be banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” Imo Singh said in the post on X.
NDTV could not independently verify the visuals posted by Imo Singh.
The ITLF and other key Kuki groups in separate statements called the allegations of Kuki-Zo tribes using weaponised drones to attack the Meiteis totally unfounded. The Kuki groups said the entire incident was meant to divert attention from the audio tape leak controversy linked to the Chief Minister.
