Trouble next door

Even as the Modi government contemplates a regime change in Imphal, the Myanmar situation forces it to tread cautiously on Manipur

- RABI BANERJEE

When Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh asked his secretary, N. Geoffrey, to draft his resignation letter late last month, panic engulfed the state secretariat. As soon as the news reached the BJP office in Imphal, the party asked civil society organisations to assemble outside the chief minister’s residence and dissuade him from going to the Raj Bhavan.

Thousands of people—most of them Meiteis—hit the streets quickly. Ironically, many of them had earlier asked the chief minister to resign as they felt the government failed to protect the interests of the Meiteis. They accused the Union government and its agencies of being soft towards the Kukis who they said had attacked them and destroyed their houses. But they came out in Biren Singh’s support after the local BJP leadership told them that if the chief minister resigned, the next option would be president’s rule. “It would mean an all out Army show. And the Meitei women would be in trouble as their protests would be dealt with harshly,” said a BJP functionary.

As the news reached Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah intervened and asked the chief minister to continue. Meanwhile, a group of protesters snatched the resignation letter from Biren Singh and tore it. This correspondent asked the chief minister about the letter. “It was mine and it was genuine,” he said.

When violence broke out in early May, Biren Singh had put up a brave face. But things have become difficult for him as the Meiteis are clearly unhappy as they think the Army has not been harsh enough with the Kukis.