New Delhi: For former Home Secretary GK Pillai, the double-engine sarkar failed in Manipur. The Kuki-Meitei conflict stretched into 21 long months with no signs of resolution.
“The double-engine sarkar is not really functioning at all. Kukis and Nagas have fought in the past but there was never any historical evidence of the Kuki-Meitei clash in recorded history,” said Pillai.
He said the narrative of current tension was manufactured in Manipur in the last 3-4 years by calling Kukis infiltrators, and narco-terrorists.
“That time [during Kuki-Naga conflict] state machinery acted. But this time trust has been lost,” said Pillai at the dialogue titled Manipur Ki Baat organised at New Delhi’s Jawahar Bhawan. The event was held on 18 February, days after Biren Singh resigned as Manipur CM and President rule was imposed in the state.
Pillai was joined by Justice Siddharth Mridul, former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Lt. Gen (retd) Shokin Chauhan, former director general, Assam Rifles, Sanjiv Sood, former Additional Director General (ADG), Border Security Force (BSF), Prashant Bhushan, senior advocate and Agnostos Theos, an activist.
Biren Singh’s resignation came in light of a no-confidence motion against his government and a Truth Lab report on the leaked audio tape, which allegedly had his voice. Bhushan is the counsel of the petitioner Kuki Organisation for Human Rights, who sought investigation on the tapes.
“In those tapes, Singh is boasting that he allowed the Meitei insurgents to get weapons from the armories of the state and that he protected them from being arrested by the central forces and even from the Manipur police,” Bhushan claimed, adding that the Truth Labs detailed report confirmed the voice of Singh.
“After that, it has become untenable for the central government to continue with this man,” said Bhushan.
Call for a lasting solution
When Justice Siddharth Mridul flew to Imphal, he did his homework on Manipur’s history and the socio-cultural ethos of the state. But nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed in the one year, one month, and one-day tenure as the Chief Justice just a few months after the violence broke out.
“Nothing will ever prepare anybody in the mainland to even begin to comprehend the problems faced by every Manipuri,” said Mridul, questioning why, despite Manipur’s glorious tradition of culture, dance, literature and sport, its people have been driven to set their own house ablaze.
The answer to Mridul’s question is purely economic.
“Whether it be the expectation of being included in the Scheduled Tribe or to own land in the hills because Meiteis feel pressured in the confines of the valley, which is only 10% of the state,” he said.
According to Mridul, there is no source of employment in Manipur apart from government jobs. He said, there are few private enterprises and anyone can not secure jobs for “love, money or God” in the state.
“To make matters worse is the hyperinflation in the state where everything that costs one anna in Delhi costs four annas in Manipur,” he said, adding that the average monthly income of a daily wager was Rs 7,300.
The people of Manipur are facing economic doldrums as there is no rule of law. “We must restore peace not only for the sake of their lives but also for the sake of their livelihoods,” said Mridul. He added that people have been displaced, killed, women have been raped, children abducted.
Justice Mridul said every stakeholder in Manipur must be invited to the table so a lasting solution can be reached.
However, during the event, a brief but heated exchange between a handful of Kukis and Meiteis underscored the lingering animosity. Both communities blamed each other for the ongoing crisis in Manipur.
“The beautiful state of Manipur has appeared to have been left to its own devices. Resignation of CM and the President rule is not really a proactive action to resolve the issue,” said Sanjiv Sood.
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Deep-rooted history
The Kuki-Meitei conflict, which started in 2023, has its roots way back in the 18th century. It was when Manipur was conquered by the Burmese empire.
Shokin Chauhan in his long presentation said that around the 1820s, the king of Manipur went to the British and requested to save the kingdom. This resulted in three wars, starting from 1824.
“That was the amalgamation of this land and Burma into the larger colonial empire of Britain. There was a movement of people because they were part of the same empire,” he said, adding that these were not the people coming to infiltrate but to settle down.
Chauhan warned people against getting caught up in the propaganda about illegality or land grabs. “It’s not like that. It’s simply an understanding of history,” said Chauhan.
Chauhan said this is not just a political problem today but a result of our lack of knowledge and understanding of deep-rooted tribal insecurity. “These are tribes which were independent before they got amalgamated in the larger British Empire and then further into Independent India or Myanmar.”
The situation worsened after the 1891 census. The British declared Meiteis as hill tribes—and it was the official stance till Independence. When the Constitution was being prepared, Meiteis weren’t included in the Scheduled Tribes list.
“The main reason for which they want this ST status is the land because as per the local laws, land can not be brought in the hill areas, which are inhabited by the tribal people,” said Sood, adding that there is an acute deficiency of land in the valley.
Sood said the Manipur High Court’s 2023 judgment, which ordered the inclusion of the Meitei community to the ST list, created apprehensions among hill tribes that their rights would be infringed.
“It further escalated by the illegal migrant issue which has been used as a political game plan,” he said.
Divide and rule
The panelists also questioned the role of the judiciary and executive in the Manipur crisis.
Bhushan said it was absolutely crystal clear to the Supreme Court that the rule of law in Manipur had completely collapsed and CM Singh was running a rogue and criminal regime.
“And yet the Supreme Court did not act, did not do anything other than appointing some committees which just twiddled their thumbs and did nothing,” he said.
Bhushan reiterated that Manipur is a stark example of the failure of every regulatory institution in this country.
“The central government has subverted virtually every regulatory institution in this country and has reduced this country into almost a wild west where anything goes, anything can be done to anybody, particularly the minorities, nobody will be held accountable,” he said.
Bhushan called the killings in Manipur a “genocide” and alleged that it was fueled by Biren Singh and his cohorts. He added that the state’s situation is part of a pattern, something prevalent all across India.
“Which is to divide and rule,” said Bhushan, “It’s like an attempt by the BJP to polarise and divide the country between Hindus and Muslims.” The same formula was attempted by the Manipur CM, who divided the state between Meities and Kukis.
“Such a mass murderer and criminal cannot be allowed to get away scot-free without any accountability,” said Bhushan. At this point, both Meitei and Kuki participants in the audience gave him applause.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)