Assam Rifles not trained to guard borders; need separate force for Manipur border

Imphal is blanketed in darkness. The sun has set a little too soon in the valley, but N. Biren Singh is yet to call it a day.

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

His pet Chester a French bulldog oblivious to human conflicts, walks up to be petted by the many visitors thronging his residence during the Lok Sabha polls. Singh looks fatigued, but he has not given up. It is a litmus test for the Manipur chief minister who sits over a divide that is complete after one year of ethnic clashes between the valley-based Meiteis and the hill-based Kuki-Zo ethnic group.

Today, the general public is living in islands of peace that exist within the hills and the valley. Manipur has become a tinderbox of multiple pulls and pressures not just within but also on its borders. Government-owned arms have gone missing, and there are fears of a revival of insurgency, with more than half a dozen Indian insurgent groups taking shelter in Myanmar and lending covert support to the internal strife in Manipur. Even as Singh looks to the Centre for long-term solutions, the next step to bridge the divide on ground will have to come from the state government. Excerpts from an interview:

Q/ It is one year since violence gripped Manipur. How do you see the security situation today?

A/ The security situation has improved, but around 50 companies of paramilitary forces were withdrawn from the state due to elections, causing a vacuum in some vulnerable areas. But no major untoward incident has taken place in the last four to five months, and I can assure you that peace is returning.

Q/ Looking back at the year gone by,do you have any regrets?