Union Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up a system that can bring credible civil society groups from both the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meitei community for sincere talks to solve the Manipur crisis.
Without naming anyone, Mr Singh in a letter to PM Modi alleged Manipur is not being allowed to live in peace and return to normalcy by “some few political leaders, a handful of armed groups, and wrongly motivated scoundrels.”
The Minister of State for External Affairs and Education in the letter requested the Prime Minister to ensure civil society organisations (CSOs) from both sides “are not coerced or influenced by armed militias and insurgents.”
“Considering the fluid law and order situation due to the ethnic strife and tension, we may seriously start a people-to-people contact movement via CSOs of the Meiteis and the Kukis,” Mr Singh, who represents the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat, said in the letter to PM Modi.
“PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) may find some credible CSOs like the time-tested ‘Manipur Cultural Integration Conference’ on both sides and ask them to start negotiations for a practical, amicable solution,” the Union Minister said.
“Only people-to-people communication and understanding will show us the path for resolving the issues. Arms and bullets can’t bring about a solution. Violence begets violence. So let the peace-loving citizens start the negotiation at the ground level under the PMO’s patronage,” Mr Singh said in the two-page letter. NDTV has seen a copy.
“The Centre must ensure that they are not coerced or influenced by the armed militias or insurgents,” he added, alluding to the huge number of armed groups and people in Manipur who call themselves “village defence volunteers”.
The number of looted guns in circulation in Manipur is in thousands. The Manipur Police have said the Meitei youth organisation Arambai Teggol has been taking advantage of the crisis to further their own agenda.
In the hill areas, the 25-odd Kuki-Zo insurgent groups that have signed the tripartite suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government have been accused of murdering civilians, highway extortion, and drug smuggling by using the safety net provided by the SoO agreement.
“My honest reading is that common people desperately want restoration of peace and normalcy in Manipur. Some few political leaders, a handful of armed groups, and wrongly motivated scoundrels are not allowing it to happen… A strong intervention shall make both sides fall in line,” Mr Singh said.
The Union Minister also highlighted the need for posting the Border Security Force (BSF) along the India-Myanmar border. Telling from his experience, Mr Singh said the BSF is very effective in keeping borders safe.
“In the 70s (i.e. 50 years ago) as a young researcher, I did a lot of travelling along the Indo-Myanmar border for research and in personal interest. During those days the BSF was guarding the border and in every 20-30 km, there was a BSF post along the international boundary. We found them taking patrol to and fro along the border in the difficult hilly-forest terrain, even though there was no proper path or way,” Mr Singh said.
“Because of their strict vigil, there was hardly any intrusion or smuggling…” he said, referring to the widely cited issues in current day Manipur such as drugs smuggling and illegal immigration, which are seen as some factors behind the Manipur crisis.
The Union Minister’s comments also come days after Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said BSF soldiers have started deployment along the border with Myanmar. The Assam Rifles, whose operational control is with the army and administrative control with the Home Ministry, has so far been shouldering the dual roles of guarding the border and running counter-insurgency operations at the same time.
The ethnic violence in Manipur over disagreements on land, resources, political representation, and affirmative action policies has dragged on for 10 months now. Over 180 have died and thousands have been internally displaced.
