‘Effort to make crisis invisible’: Manipur MP takes aim at Centre after President’s Address doesn’t mention conflict in state

The speech comes at a time when the fault lines in Manipur, which began with ethnic clashes between Meiteis and Kuki-Zos in May 2023, continues to exist in the state.

“I was expecting the President’s Address to include something on Manipur, very honestly speaking, because I thought that the government will outline through her speech on the steps being taken by the Government of India to deal with the issue and this tragedy we have been witnessing in my home state. But call it arrogance or a reflection of a peculiar form of ‘rashtra chetna’ followed by the ruling party, they have chosen to remain silent in an effort to make the crisis invisible to the rest of the country as well as the globe,” he said.

He accused the ruling BJP of “tinkering” with constitutional principles in the state and that its response to the conflict is a reflection that “this government and its ideological moorings does not believe in inclusive politics.”

He underlined the breakdown of state government in the state, calling it an “an illegal subversion of the constitutional mechanism and democracy.”

“Under the Constitution we have a state government and assembly which has been reduced to a farce. We had the shortest assembly session in 2023 in August which barely lasted less than half an hour. Instead of discussing the crisis, the assembly was cut short. The government of Manipur openly claims that its powers have been stripped by the union government. We don’t know who is in charge of the state of Manipur. The leaders of the government in the state say that the police did not report to the Honourable CM and the Home Minister… The Chief Minister says some part of Manipur is under my command and some part is under the Union Home Monster. Can you imagine the Chief Minister of Maharashtra saying that Mumbai is under my control and the rest of Maharashtra is under the union government?” he said.

Referring to the summoning of elected Meitei representatives for a meeting by armed group Arambai Tenggol in January 2024 in Imphal, during which some MLAs were reportedly assaulted by members of the group, Akoijam said, “Indian state has become nothing but a banana republic in the state of Manipur. Have you ever seen elected representatives being beaten up publicly in this country? And the country thinks that constitutional order is in place in Manipur… When the Constitution was adopted 75 years ago, we had a Constitution of our own. And the constitutional monarchy which was bulldozed on 15th August 1949, that insult should have been let the bygone be the bygone and we should be looking forward.”

He further said: “But this manner in which the crisis has been handled and the contemptuous manner in which this has not been talked about, even in our Honourable President’s speech, is making you remember that humiliation once more as we are trying to look forward. This is the most saddening and unfortunate part as we celebrate the Constitution’s 75th year.”

He also referred to the disappearance of Laishram Kamalbabu, a Meitei man who had gone missing from the Leimakhong military garrison where he worked, in November 2024, hitting out at the Union Defence Minister and the Chief of Army Staff for not addressing it.

“How secure are the people of Manipur, even when you are not secure in a military garrison, the biggest army headquarters in the state of Manipur?” he asked.

The crisis in Manipur had also been brought up by Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba in the Upper House on Monday, while urging the Centre to complete work on the railway connection from Jiribam to capital Imphal.

“In spite of the state and central governments’ effort to curb the situation in the state, and along the national highways… firing, killings and abduction of innocent people and extortion along the national highways are being carried out… Many jawans have become martyrs and many are injured in the hands of the illegal immigrants. They are really waging war against the nation, with the hepo of foreign hands or countries… The government of India with an iron hand should act upon these foreign narco-terrorists and separatists to restore normalcy in the state as well as allow the national highways and complete the Jiribam-Imphal railway line project positively by 2025 or at the earliest.”

On May 3 last year, long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur spiralled into violence, which claimed at least 52 lives in three days. The death toll currently stands at over 200, with scores more wounded.