Manipur: Ministry-Making Bid as Fresh Unrest Erupts

Kolkata: The Manipur situation is suddenly getting more complicated. The Union government’s dilemma over the strife-torn North-Eastern small state is becoming conspicuous by the day since May 20, the opening day of the five-day Shirui Lily Festival at chosen places at Ukhrul town and Shirui village in Ukhrul district where the Tangkhul Naga community accounts for a vast majority of the population.

Organised by the tourism department after a two-year gap, after the state saw large-scale ethnic violence breaking out on May 3, 2023 between the Valley-based Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos-inhabited Hills on the issue of ST (Scheduled Tribe) status for the former, the festival was really the first test of normalcy.

The festival did take place, but some excesses committed on May 20 by the security personnel, vehemently protested by journalists, who were being taken around by the tourism department, acted as spoiler. The after-effects are still manifest in agitations and protests.

As the state witnesses unrest amid demands for the administration’s apology and transfer of some key bureaucrats, there is also a sudden burst of political activity, at the centre of which is the demand by a significant section of the Meiteis for scrapping President’s Rule, reactivation of the Assembly put under suspended animation since February 13, when President’s Rule was imposed, and formation of a popular ministry.

While Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla and chief secretary Prashant K Singh are running the administration, for which they are heavily depending upon the security apparatus, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has cut out his own role – both in administration [particularly of the Hill areas] and as a politician.

Informed quarters, including retired bureaucrats, told NewsClick that Shah is seriously exploring the possibility of forming a popular ministry and has already called Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh, a former cabinet minister, for exploratory talks. Satyabrata is being seen as a possible Chief Minister face because of his being cool-headed politician who can negotiate unity with the Kuki-Zos, who are firm on their demand for a separate administrative mechanism for the Hills, as permissible under the Constitution.

Which means the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership and Shah, in particular, does not favour N Biren Singh’s reinstatement as Chief Minister, whose hard stance against illegal immigration of tribals from Myanmar and Bangladesh is well-known.

But on Wednesday, May 28, Biren Singh got active, met Governor Bhalla, submitted to him a detailed 12 page-memorandum in which he demanded serious implementation of the Union Home Ministry’s early directive to states to identify and deport all illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh within 30 days. He reportedly stressed that national security concerns demand a thorough door-to-door verification in Manipur and, therefore, the Governor should seek extension of the timeline from North Block (Home Ministry).

Meanwhile, Manipur watchers do not undermine the importance of the ex-Chief Minister’s suggestions. They also point out that Biren Singh is a seasoned politician and, therefore, there is scope for political interpretation of his move. Which, according to them, is that he is right now not in favour of installing a popular ministry with someone else as his successor. Who knows the passage of some more time may bring Biren Singh back into reckoning for reinstatement? That’s the twist in the interpretation.

In this context, some six BJP MLAs have met Bhalla in the past two days seeking a ministry-making initiative by him. They have claimed the support of 44 MLAs in the 60-member House, in which one seat is vacant.

There is one more big development in this small state which is in dire need of normalcy. The Union Home Ministry, it appears, has given up its plan for the time being for tripartite dialogues involving the two warring sides and itself. After rounds of back-stage initiatives, it could bring the two sides for a tripartite session in New Delhi on Saturday, April 5, and it intended to follow this up by end-April/early May 2025. But circumstances have ruled out the second tripartite meeting.

Taking note of what happened on May 20 (the opening day of the Shirui Lily festival) and the series of protests and sit-in agitations, the Home Ministry called a bipartite meeting with Manipur’s two Meitei outfits in New Delhi on May 27. The MHA side was led by advisor (North-East) A K Mishra, who met delegations of Lamphelpat, Imphal West-based Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) and Imphal East-based Federation of Civil Society Organisations (FOCS) separately, giving each side two hours. The COCOMI side was led by its convener Khuraijam Athouba. The FOCS team was led by its acting president B M Yaima Shah.

Reportedly, COCOMI drew the ministry’s attention to the resolution adopted at the ‘Manipur People’s Convention’ held on Saturday, May 3, to mark the second anniversary of the ethnic violence. Accusing the ministry of mishandling the situation, it declared that any attempt, internal or external, made to divide and disintegrate Manipur “will be firmly and collectively opposed”.  

It also asked the Centre to forthwith cease all forms of indirect support to foreign-origin armed groups, such as, the Kuki National Organisation and the United People’s Front operating in the state.

At the May 27 session, COCOMI also urged MHA to acknowledge the public mandate and “take steps to formally escalate the resolution to higher levels of the Government of India”. There is anger about the way things are being handled under President’s Rule and a popular government in office brooks no delay, it said.

The FOCS team reportedly discussed “moral reframing of the on-going crisis”, contending that senior government functionaries ….“continue to approach the current crisis … through the same moral lens that was applied at its onset”. This moral lens “still framed the Kuki-Zo communities as victims of incredible brutality” though the crisis has turned into “a complex, militarized conflict requiring urgent strategic reassessment”.

There is a perceptible divergence between the views of the two Meitei civil society organisations. Which is that while COCOMI is demanding a popular government by terminating President’s Rule, FOCS is not raising the ministry-making issue. Couched in philosophical terms that have a grey element, it is asking for moral reframing and strategic revisit of the line being followed.

For the record: What happened on May 20 and reaction thereto: The Manipur State Transport bus in which scribes were travelling to Ukhrul was stopped at several checkpoints. At Gwaltabi, one such checkpoint, Mahar Regiment and BSF personnel reportedly sought masking of the word ‘Manipur’ from the Manipur State Transport signage. Angered at what they thought was a grave instance of security excess, which had hurt ‘Manipuri asmita’ the scribes went back to Imphal.

The news spread fast, scribes began protests and were joined by several public outfits, including students and women. The protest format was stretched to seal some state and Union government offices. (According to a report in The Sunday Express of May 18, for reaching the festival sites, the Meiteis and other residents of the Valley, which is surrounded by Hill districts, need to travel through at least three pockets of Kuki-Zo settlements).

The writer is a veteran independent journalist based in Kolkata.