Invisible hand seems at play in Manipur crisis: Former CJ

No one appears to be in control in Manipur, where "an invisible hand" continues to fan violence, the Manipur high court's former chief justice Siddharth Mridul said on Tuesday, stressing the need to urgently bring the situation under control otherwise, "there will be nothing left to protect" in the northeastern state.

- Prawesh Lama

Justice Mridul's tenure as chief justice began in October 2023, coinciding with the early days of conflict in the region, which has remained on the edge since May of last year. At a panel discussion in Delhi, justice Mridul, who demitted office last month after his retirement, said some elements might have a vested interest in keeping the state on the boil.

"I am beginning to subscribe to the idea that there does seem to be an invisible hand [behind the continued violence]. Whose hand is it is not clear to me yet. There could be a number of factors at play," he said.

"The reason why I believe there is somebody involved in keeping the pot boiling is that every time the situation seems to be normalising, there is a fresh injection of violence. This leads me to believe that there are forces... Even if the forces are external, they do have collaborators locally, who ensure that the agenda of keeping Manipur burning is pursued vigorously," he said in response to a query by HT.

Manipur has been in the throes of violence for close to 19 months, with the ethnic conflict showing no signs of abating. The cycle of violence and reprisal attacks has prompted the Centre to send more troops, reimpose AFSPA and hold talks with representatives of various groups. The steps, however, appeared have little impact as close to 240 people died in the state, which is now deeply fractured on community lines.