A fortnight after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Manipur, the BJP leadership on June 10 sent Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma – the troubleshooter for any crisis the party faces in the northeast – for a series of meetings in Imphal.
Dr. Sarma met his Manipur counterpart Nongthombam Biren Singh and a group of MLAs, apart from the leaders of several Meitei and Naga groups, in an effort to work out a peace formula in the strife-torn State, where more than 100 people have been killed and 35,000 displaced since ethnic clashes broke out on May 3.
Also read | Manipur Governor to head Centre’s peace committee
Meeting Kukis next week
“The focus of the meeting was on bringing back normalcy to Manipur as soon as possible by reaching out to each other,” a Manipur BJP leader said, adding that the Assam CM was likely to visit Churachandpur and other Kuki-dominated areas next week.
“Peace in Manipur is vital for the well-being of the northeast. I shall submit a report on the possible steps to restore peace, based on what I have learnt in Manipur,” Dr. Sarma told journalists after returning to Guwahati on Saturday evening.
People in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley have been staging sit-in protests, taking out rallies and forming human chains demanding the restoration of peace in troubled Manipur.
Opposing ‘Kukiland’
On Saturday, Manipur Assembly Speaker Th. Satyabrata resumed talks with 24 MLAs currently stationed in Imphal, following demands from various sections that they go to New Delhi to impress upon the Centre not to bifurcate the State.
Most of Manipur’s MLAs have been under pressure to counter the demand of 10 Kuki MLAs for the creation of a separate community-based administration being touted as ‘Kukiland’. Ten other MLAs belonging to the Naga tribes have already warned Delhi against including Naga-inhabited areas if Kukis are granted their demand. Kuki and Naga villages are cheek-by-jowl in several hill districts.
Also read | Solution to end Manipur unrest must not touch Naga areas: Naga MLAs to Amit Shah
Seeking PM intervention
Meanwhile, 10 political parties in Manipur, led by the Congress, sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for restoring peace and normalcy in the State.
Former Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh said that the Prime Minister’s silence on the violence in Manipur has proved that the Centre was neglecting the State. He also said that while Mr. Shah’s visit to the State was appreciated, it failed to have any impact on the warring groups.
“Had the Centre intervened in time, the crisis could have been resolved much earlier,” he said.
In a meeting at the Congress office in Imphal on Friday, the 10 political parties resolved to urge the State government to convene a special session of the 60-member Assembly for a detailed discussion on the ongoing unrest. The parties also decided to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister and other central leaders to resolve the burning issues in Manipur. The parties involved included the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the CPI (Marxist), Janata Dal (United), Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Nationalist Congress Party, and Trinamool Congress.
