At the all-party meeting on Manipur violence convened by Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, most opposition parties demanded the removal of chief minister N Biren Singh for being "partisan and part of the problem". They also insisted the Centre put in place a "time-bound action plan" for peace so that the north-eastern state doesn't simmer again.
The home ministry gave party representatives a detailed picture of the efforts made since the first instance of violence in the state on May 3, by deploying nearly 36,000 security personnel in the state and sending at least 40 IPS officers to monitor the situation closely.
Sources said senior home ministry officials gave a detailed presentation on the steps taken by the government so far, including Home Minister Amit Shah's three-day visit to Manipur. Apart from senior ministry officials and representatives of 18 political parties, BJP president JP Nadda, minister Prahlad Joshi and two junior Home Ministers, Nityanand Rai and Ajay Kumar Teni, were also present at the meeting.
The participants were told that till now, there have been 131 deaths in the state, while 419 have been injured, 5,036 incidents of arson reported and 5,889 cases of FIR registered, apart from 144 arrests. It was also mentioned that Manipur has had a history of ethnic clashes, and that there were 750 deaths in 1993, and similar clashes in 1997-98 too.
According to sources, many parties such as CPM, AAP, RJD and Congress demanded that Biren Singh be removed in face of continuing violence in the state as he had lost the "legitimacy" to continue at the helm of affairs. Many parties including TMC demanded that an all-party delegation be allowed to visit the state. The Samajwadi Party pushed for president's rule in Manipur, sources said.
Apart from deaths, thousands have been displaced from their homes because of ethnic violence since early May. Central forces have been battling both mobs and snipers. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had visited the state for four days in May and toured relief camps, apart from meeting various groups of people, had also spoken about a 15-day window for insurgent groups to give up arms and help to restore peace.
Opposition Flagged Several Concerns
In the meeting, according to those in know of the matter, RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha specifically flagged the situation as simmering for a while now, pointing out that this was something that the Centre should have been alert about. While CPI(M)'s John Brittas is said to have demanded the removal of Biren Singh from the top job, he also asked why there have been only 144 arrests till now, to which the ministry is said to have clarified that it was handling the situation sensitively, taking care to not aggravate it.
The CPM, sources said, also raised questions on what the government is doing about violent groups snatching weapons from security forces. The Centre responded by saying in 1,600 cases, surrender of weapons has already happened, NDTV has learnt. Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Priyanka Chaturvedi, AAP's Sanjay Singh, and DMK's Tiruchi Siva also pointed to the Chief Minister not being able to control the violence.
The Congress, represented by Okram Ibobi Singh, who was the Manipur Chief Minister for 15 years, from 2002 to 2017, said that all insurgent groups should be disarmed immediately. The party has also demanded that an all-party meeting be chaired by the Prime Minister in Imphal.
LJP spoke first at the meeting, followed by the Chief Ministers of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma and Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang - both part of the NDA. Mr Tamang, sources said, spoke about violence in the North East going down under the NDA. "That was the only slightly political point in the meeting. Everyone else maintained an apolitical decorum. The home minister patiently listened to everyone's suggestions. When Congress wanted to speak after him, he told them to come over for a meal to talk about the matter in detail," another participant said.
The parties also pointed out that much more needs to be done to increase confidence in people for the peace committees to work. A 51-member peace committee and a Commission of Inquiry, headed by former Gauhati High Court chief justice Ajai Lamba, has been put in place to probe the violence.
"The home minister was honest to admit that the situation is not completely peaceful yet, but that the centre is making efforts to control the number of deaths. He asked us to have faith in the government that everything is being done to bring normalcy," one of the participating MPs said.
Government highlighted its efforts, past violence in Manipur
According to those present in the meeting, the home minister is learnt to have presented a thorough understanding of Manipur, its history and resident communities, and also previous cases of clashes in the state.
"He made it clear that he has studied the past and in the three nights he spent there, he met all groups, even parties with no representation. He made it clear that he knows the past and will not let it weigh on his actions," a person who participated in the meeting said.
When one of the members asked why two Chief Ministers of North Eastern states, Sikkim and Meghalaya, were present, and not the Chief Minister of Manipur, the home minister clarified that they were present as heads of political parties.
The home ministry said that the situation in Manipur was slowly returning to normal, and since June 13 night, not a single person has died in violence in the state. 20 medical teams have been sent to ensure the supply of all essential items including medicines, it said.
The home ministry also said that the fencing work of 10 km of Myanmar-Manipur border is done, and the tendering for 80 km of border fencing has been implemented, while the survey of the remaining border is underway. The ministry officials said that apart from Mr Shah's outreach to different groups of people in Manipur to bring peace to the state, MoS (home) Nityanand Rai had stayed in the state for more than 20 days.
The home minister clarified that the Prime Minister was constantly taking stock of the situation in Manipur, even when he was abroad, and that all action in Manipur to control the violence was being done under his guidance.
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