Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s resignation does not absolve him of his unpardonable acts
Finally, President’s rule has been imposed in Manipur, four days after Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s resignation. The Manipur Assembly, which has tenure till 2027, has been put under suspended animation.
For the last 20 months, the opposition as well as civil society organisations had been demanding the imposition of President’s rule in Manipur to stop the ethnic violence. However, the Centre has done so not to put an end to the prolonged violence that crippled the State, but due to constitutional compulsion arising out of the failure of the State BJP leaders to choose a suitable and acceptable leader for the CM’s post.
Growing Dissidence
Biren Singh’s resignation was fuelled by growing dissidence within the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and the opposition Congress’ plan of a no-confidence motion in the Assembly. Another reason is the direction of the Supreme Court to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory to provide a “sealed-cover report” on “leaked audio tapes” that it is examining. Singh, in the audio tapes, is allegedly featured as an instigator of the conflict between the two ethnic groups of Manipur.
Article 355 of the Constitution, which is considered a step below the President’s rule, had been in force in Manipur since ethnic clashes broke out in May 2023 between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis over disagreements on land, resources, political representation and affirmative action policies. However, the Chief Minister revealed its application only in January 2024.
Article 355 says the Centre must protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance to ensure government stability. It allows the Centre to take charge of a State’s law and order enforcement without dismissing the government. By applying Article 355 in the State, the Centre passively acknowledged the prevailing acute law and order situation in Manipur.
Singh’s Narratives
Now it is time to look back to the various narratives of Biren Singh on violence. His view is that the hill tribes, particularly the Kuki-Zo-Hmar community who historically lives on both sides of the Indo-Myanmar border, are conspiring to destabilise the State with the help of insurgent groups backed by some anti-India foreign forces. The mainstream media, which often echoes the version of the ruling class, reported that the United States and China are supplying arms to the Kuki insurgent groups without verifying ground realities.
Weapons are not new to Manipur or the insurgent groups in the North East. Since the insurgency started in Manipur, they have their set ways of getting weapons — how they went from Myanmar to China and interacted with groups in both countries. Kukis joined this insurgency and accessed Myanmar for weapons much later. Meiteis and Nagas started first.
The former Chief Minister’s narrative seems to be a cover-up to hide the failure of the State to economically and socially protect the vulnerable hill tribes. Singh persistently accusing the Kuki-Zo-Hmar community of being “infiltrators” from Myanmar and providing a haven to “drug dealers” and illicit crop cultivators fuelled the hostility on both sides of the conflict. He has failed to rein in violent extremist groups that openly brandished sophisticated weapons — many looted from police armouries, creating a culture of impunity.
Since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023, more than 250 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced
Singh faced dissidence in his party when he got the second term, and also faced resistance from his own community in the valley. He first tried to woo the Kuki groups for a while, but when it failed, he adopted a different approach. He started talking about poppy cultivation by the Kuki community in the hills even when there are allegations against him that he is involved in drug cartels. An ex-police officer, Brinda Thounaojam, has levelled allegations against Biren Singh for his role in facilitating this trade. She made the biggest drug-related arrest in Manipur history and kicked up a storm when she revealed in a court affidavit that she was pressured by Singh to scuttle the case.
While the trade in drugs and weapons in Manipur and other districts, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs reports, has been happening for more than two decades, Singh named the Kuki Zo Hmar community to create polarisation within the State. In Manipur, drug abuse has become a serious concern which has gripped every faction of society, including the youth and children. Even officials and politicians have resorted to drug trafficking. The introduction of a one-time cash incentive in terms of reward, compensation for the crops destroyed and provision for cultivating alternative crops, focuses on the needs of the growers rather than the abrupt destruction of poppy plants.
Tribal farmers, most of whom are extremely poor, prefer to grow poppies in remote hills mainly due to a lack of government support for them. The driving force for cultivating poppy in rural villages is the prevalent poverty, which has its origins in the failure of State machinery, to some extent. Decades of armed conflicts, insurgency problems and ethnic violence have crippled the State, hitting the economy and, in turn, the poor, the hardest.
Curse of Poverty
Rural development programmes fall short of delivering to the last mile. Cultivating food crops alone cannot be sufficient to meet the needs of rural tribal households. Poppy cultivation acts like a “magic potion” for rural households to come out of poverty within a short span.
Law enforcement agencies have destroyed 19,135.60 acres of illegal poppy cultivation between 2017 and 2024. The rise in illicit poppy cultivation has posed a threat to the already conflict-ridden Manipuri society.
Just two weeks before the violence started, a delegation consisting of leaders from all communities went to Delhi and sought Singh’s removal. Earlier too, different mixed delegations had told central leaders that Singh was not the right leader.
It is strange that every time something happens against Biren Singh, the Meitei radical group, Arambai Tenggol, or the UNLF(P), gets active. Singh’s critics allege that he uses Arambai Tenggol as his private militia group to stifle dissent.
Promulgation of the infamous Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFPSA) only in tribal-dominated hill areas results in communalising peace-keeping process in the State. While central forces have control on the hillside, the State forces control the valley.
Since ethnic violence erupted in the State on May 3, 2023, more than 250 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced. In just the first three months, between May 3 and July 30, 2023, as many as 3,023 First Information Reports (FIRs) pertaining to rape, sexual offences against women, murder, loot and arson were registered in the State.
Biren Singh may have resigned but his resignation does not absolve him of the responsibility for his genocidal actions.
