In a significant development in strife-torn Manipur, the N Biren Singh-led BJP government has demanded control of the Unified Command that oversees security operations in the Northeastern state, sources have said. The Command is currently handled by a team of Union Home Ministry officials, the state security adviser and the Army.
Sources have said that Chief Minister Singh and all MLAs of the state have submitted a list of demands to Governor Lakshman Acharya. On this list is a demand for “adequate powers and responsibilities to the elected State government as per the Constitution by handing over Unified Command”, a source told NDTV.
Another key demand in the list is the scrapping of a Suspension of Operations agreement between the government and Kuki insurgent groups to enable security forces to crack down hard. In January this year, an all-party meeting in Manipur had asked the Centre and the state government to scrap the agreement so that security forces can launch full-scale operations against Kuki insurgents.
At the meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Singh, Opposition MLAs had also questioned why the Centre and the state government had not informed that Article 355 of the Constitution was in force in Manipur. Article 355 states that it is the duty of the Union to protect every state against external aggression and internal disturbance and imposition of this provision means that state is one step away from President’s rule.
The list also calls upon the Centre to ensure peace in the state that is suffering due to a cycle of violence following ethnic classes in May last year. The Chief Minister and BJP MLAs have also demanded protection of the state’s territorial integrity, completion of border fencing, a National Register of Citizens exercise and the deportation of all illegal migrants, the sources said.
The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.
The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.