Sounds of Manipur in Supreme Court

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

News in the mainstream media on Manipur is as ambiguous as the Chinese intrusions during April-May 2020 in eastern Ladakh and the recent India-China deal to resume patrolling in the region. News about Manipur is what Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh administration wants. Clampdown on reporting ground truth persists, and spin-doctoring includes a disinformation barrage, for example, accusing tribals using drones to drop bombs/grenades (including such a post on X by Biren Singh) until the Army Chief publicly nailed the lie.

The Centre’s subterfuge came into focus on November 10, 2024, when 10 Kuki MLAs from Manipur (including of BJP) called a “blatant lie” Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta’s submission in Supreme Court on November 8 that Biren Singh is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to restore peace. Mehta perhaps said this to avoid SC examining audio recordings (termed ‘Manipur Tapes’) indicting Biren Singh’s role in ethnic cleansing in Manipur since May 2023.

All Kuki MLAs denied having met Biren Singh since May 3 last year. Their joint statement, referring to the recent killing of Zosangkim Hmar in Jiribam district despite heavy security presence in the area, said, “We strongly condemn the barbaric killing of a defenceless woman by the Meitei militias”. The MLAs also said they wouldn’t meet Biren Singh in future also since “he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley”. The post mortem report of Zosangkim Hmar (mother of three) indicates rape, torture and burning to death. Last year, three Kuki women were raped by a mob of Meitei radicals and paraded naked.

The killing of Zosangkim Hmar was followed by news reports of at least 10 suspected Kuki insurgents shot dead in an encounter with CRPF and one CRPF person injured. The Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) said the 10 shot dead were village defence volunteers, who have been on the ground since the violence began. The Hmar Students’ Association condemned the incident in a statement as “premeditated massacre of Hmar Village Volunteers.” The Kuki-Zo Council called for a total shutdown in the hilly areas of the state to express collective grief and solidarity; demanding an immediate thorough investigation bringing the perpetrators to justice. The incident crated unrest in Assam and Mizoram, with the Mizo National Front terming it “extra judicial killings”.

It is no secret that Biren Singh has been using Arambai Tenggol, UNLF and other Meitei radical organization to attack the Kuki-Zo, although not acknowledging Arambai Tenggol even exists and has used Manipur police commandos for ethnic cleansing

But Biren Singh is blue-eyed boy of the Centre who consider the Kuki-Zo “infiltrators” though they have been living in Manipur for decades, as pointed out by a former DG Assam Rifles.

Gunfights, arson and shutdowns have been rocking Manipur ever since. 20 more companies of central forces have been rushed to Manipur indicating utter failure of the state administration. But tribals fear this additional force may be used to accelerate ethnic cleansing. Posts on social media show Arambai Tenggol ordering the CRPF.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been reimposed only in “parts” of Imphal Valley. But central forces and Manipur police are deployed in most places where Biren Singh’s writ runs.

Biren Singh also wants to flush out or kill tribals from 6,000 hectares of land for palm plantation by a corporation, having taken advance money already. Then there is also the Rs 50,000 crore annual trade in narcotics according to a report by the Editor’s Guild of India, of which a part goes up the pipeline to the Centre. The tribals are Christians and the NSCN (IM) had earlier s issued a warning to Arambai Tengoll not to target Christians (https://www.ifp.co.in/manipur/nscn-i-m-cautions-arambai-tenggol). Now the NSCN (IM) general secretary has threatened to resume armed resistance against India if the Centre rejects his demand for third party intervention in the Naga peace talks.

Recall the prime minister-led grand ceremony at New Delhi in 2015 signing the Framework of the Naga Peace Accord with the NDCN (IM). What did the Centre promise the NSCN? Was heralding it a monumental achievement a charade with no follow up considered necessary? Now the propaganda that NSCN is being supported by Bangladesh and Pakistani Islamists is utterly stupid – radical Islamists supporting Christians instead of killing them?

Biren Singh represents the true face of our politicians. It is on record that Manipur MLA Thaounaojam Shyamkumar Singh, heading a mob of 1200-1500 women, forced an Indian Army Infantry column to release 12 armed KYKL terrorists in Itham Village on June 24, 2023, which included the mastermind of an ambush, killing 18 Army soldiers on June 4, 2015. The MLA obviously had the backing of Biren Singh and also the Centre.

The same terrorist organization ambushed and killed Colonel Viplav Tripathi, CO 46 Assam Rifles, his wife and young son in 2021.

Why has this terrorist MLA not been prosecuted and where are these terrorists? The question doing the rounds is do our ministers having photo-ops of putting sweets in the mouth of soldiers on Diwali feel any shame? It is said that shame is not in the lexicon of politicians but then we have a defence minister who not only lied about the Chinese ingress in Ladakh but blatantly lies in Parliament about other issues as well.

The Manipur Tapes proving Biren Singh’s complicity in the ethnic cleansing came at a time when the Centre had set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into the Manipur violence. The 48-mnute audio tape, released on social media, has been provided to the Commission of Inquiry. The SC is to examine these tapes but the SG will probably say these are AI-generated fakes.

Anything and everything that happens in India is linked to vote-bank politics, with ideology added to polarize societies for electoral benefit. But it is ironic that while on one hand we are eulogizing tribals, latest example being Birsa Munda, simultaneously we are ethnically cleansing tribals in Manipur? Also, the government would be looking for support by the new American government to stop the killing of minorities in Bangladesh. In fact, Tulsi Gabbard, now appointed Director National Intelligence by Donald Trump, has been talking of Hindu killings in Bangladesh. But how would the Trump administration react to the torture, rapes and killings of Christians in Manipur?

The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.