Central forces mute spectators, better to remove them: BJP MLA & Manipur CM Biren Singh’s son-in-law to Amit Shah

In his letter to Shah, Rajkumar, the MLA from the Sagolband constituency in Imphal West, wrote that 16 months since the conflict first started in May 2023, “one expected that the days of violence were left behind with more concentration on a political dialogue to bring a permanent and peaceful solution”. However, he said, “a certain group/section just wants this violence to continue to serve their larger interest”.

“The attack has now been upgraded to drone attacks and shelling, which we see in other neighbouring countries. It is at this juncture that I am resorted to questioning the Central government regarding the actions related to stop this violence,” he wrote.

He also questioned the role being played in maintaining peace by the large deployment of Army and Central Armed Police Forces in the state. Politicians and civil society from the Meitei community have been questioning the effectiveness of central forces – particularly the Assam rifles, which has been accused of being partisan to the Kuki-Zos – and have pushed for the removal of the Assam Rifles from the state. A significant amount of the central forces have been deployed in what are called “buffer zones” in areas where the Meitei-majority valley meets Kuki-Zomi-majority hill districts.

On the other hand, the state police have been accused of being partisan in favour of the Meitei community by Kuki-Zo stakeholders.

“It seems the presence of around 60,000 central forces in Manipur is not yielding peace, thus it’s better to remove such forces that are mostly present as mute spectators… and allow state forces to take charge and bring peace in the state,” he wrote.

He also demanded that unified command in the state be handed over to the Chief Minister. Following the outbreak of the violence, retired IPS officer and former CRPF Director General Kuldiep Singh had been sent to Manipur as “security advisor” to the CM. A unified command was announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to the state at the end of May last year for better coordination among different security agencies deployed in the state, and the DG was put in charge of it.

“Central government has to hand over the unified command to the state government headed by the Chief Minister and allow it to act as per the procedures prescribed to bring peace and normalcy in the state. The present set-up isn’t able to halt such violence, thus handing over the unified command to the elected government is the need of the hour,” he wrote.

In his letter, he also reiterated another key demand made by Meitei politicians and civil society: that the Central government abrogate its Suspension of Operation agreements with Kuki-Zo insurgent groups on the ground that they have violated the rules of the agreement, stating that they “are constantly behind the spread of further violence”.

He also demanded that the Centre investigate the source of funding and supply of arms and ammunition used in the conflict. “… a mere ethnic conflict should not last for such a long time but it has continued for nearly a year and a half due to support and supply of illegal arms and ammunition. One has to act and stop these supplies immediately to halt all kinds of violence in the state,” he wrote.

He also wrote that the Centre should initiate political dialogue and engagement between all stakeholders “at the earliest”.

Congress MP from the Inner Manipur constituency, Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, has also questioned the role of the armed forces. In a social media post on Sunday evening, he wrote, “The latest round of criminal and deadly assault on civilians, including using drones to bomb residential areas, exposes the failure of the law enforcing agencies, particularly the armed forces under the Government of India, which are deployed in Manipur. Who is going to be made accountable for their actions or rather inactions? Should not the GoI take the moral or otherwise responsibility for these deaths and destruction?”