Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are reaching out to the Governor and the President to give memorandums to get the opposition parties’ state governments dismissed. According to them, Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal should be dismissed immediately because the police have done some wrong in the investigation of the incident of rape and brutal murder of a junior doctor in a hospital there and the doctors have been on strike for a month against it. However, now the CBI is investigating the case and the main accused has been arrested. Similarly, BJP leaders want the Delhi government to be dismissed because Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is in jail and work is being affected due to his absence. BJP leaders have launched a campaign to get state governments dismissed from Karnataka to Telangana and Punjab to Jharkhand. But among the 29 states of the country, the most fit case for President’s rule is that of Manipur, about which no one is worried.
Ethnic violence has been going on in Manipur for the last 16 months. After a decision of the High Court, protests started on May 3, 2023, which turned into a violent movement. Since then, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been displaced. Thousands of people are living in refugee camps, while thousands have taken refuge in the neighboring state of Mizoram. Taking advantage of the ethnic violence going on in the state, many militant organizations, which had become inactive or were defunct for the last few years, have got a new lease of life. Infiltration is going on from Myanmar across the border and militant organizations are getting support there too. China’s interference is also visible on one pretext or the other. So, Manipur’s humanitarian crisis has turned into a major political and strategic crisis. At this time, everyone from the Prime Minister to the National Security Advisor of the country is busy solving the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, while the first need at this time is to solve the dispute between Kuki and Meitei.
It seems that new dimensions are being added to the Manipur crisis with the passage of time. First it started with protests, in which some violence took place. Then guerrilla warfare started in hiding. Kuki groups camped on the hills and the Meitei community stood firm in the valley. Sporadic violence continued between them. But now the dimension of the entire problem has changed. Now drone attacks are being carried out and rocket bombs are being fired. For the first time in the entire crisis, drone attacks took place on September 1 and 3. Drone attacks were carried out in the capital Imphal and surrounding areas, in which many people died. Then one day there was a rocket bomb attack. The house of the first Chief Minister of the state was attacked. After this, one day both the groups came face to face and fired heavily at each other, in which six people were killed. All this happened between September 1 and 8.
On September 8, students of the Maiti community took to the streets and started protesting against the sudden increase in violence. On September 9 and 10, their protests turned violent. They pelted stones at the Raj Bhavan and attacked the central security forces. In retaliation, the security forces fired fake bullets and tear gas shells at them. The protesting students submitted a six-point demand to the Governor and sat on a dharna for an answer. Along with their political demands like removing the state police chief and security advisor, a major demand is that the unified command of the security forces headed by a former CRPF officer be handed over to the Chief Minister. The protesters want Chief Minister N Biren Singh to take over the unified command of the police and the CRPF. N Biren Singh himself met Governor Laxman Prasad Acharya and gave him an eight-point charter of demands, in which one of his demands was that the unified command be given to him.
Obviously, the protesters want what Chief Minister N Biren Singh wants. The way the protesting students are showing goodwill towards the Chief Minister and are targeting the Raj Bhavan instead of him, it seems that the Chief Minister is supporting the protest. He is also dividing the state and the center. Remember, once Biren Singh had offered to resign from the post of Chief Minister, a large sponsored crowd of women immediately gathered at his residence and the women tore his resignation and threw it away. After that, Biren Singh could not write his resignation. There was no violence in that farce, but the sponsored protest that is going on now is leading to violence and the responsibility for that lies with the Chief Minister. But I don’t know why the central government and the BJP high command do not have the courage to talk to Chief Minister Biren Singh strictly. He is only worried about his vote base along with his Maiti identity and has left the rest of the groups to their fate. He knows that if the Maiti population and its majority MLAs are standing with him, then no one can harm him.
Meanwhile, the caste divide in the state has increased beyond limits. Both Kuki and Maiti are fighting against each other by revealing their identity. The protesting students are openly saying that out of the 60 MLAs of the state, 50 MLAs who belong to the Maiti community should come on the road and resign. On the other hand, 10 Kuki MLAs are standing with the Kuki groups camped on the mountain. Both are not missing any opportunity to attack each other. It is a different matter that the Kuki group with less population is being called extremists in every media of the country from the capital Delhi and the majority Maiti are being called protesters. The reality is that both the caste groups have become extremists. The common people are suffering the consequences of this.
Apart from the two communities, people also live in the state. Naga and Nepali population also lives there. But everyone’s life has become difficult. Thousands of people from these two communities are also in refugee camps, whose life is passing in difficult circumstances. Thousands of children have stopped studying. With time, the situation is getting worse instead of improving. Curfew has been imposed in many districts of the state and internet is closed in many districts. Examinations are to be held in schools and colleges, which have been postponed. At this time, the way to end the dispute between Kuki and Meitei is to give the leadership in neutral hands. President’s rule should be imposed in the state and unified command should be handed over to the Governor. Only then can the initiative to resolve the dispute be taken by being neutral and impartial. Keep in mind that now the crisis in Manipur is becoming a threat to the unity and integrity of the country. Only then the President and the Prime Minister should take the initiative and try to end the violence.