relief for Manipur or red rag for NE?

Biren Singh’s exit as Manipur CM raises the question – are India’s politicians now ready to listen to the voices of Manipur’s bloodied people and find ways to prevent the bloodletting that often grips the seven NE states?

Going by their initial response to Biren’s resignation, they, instead, look more interested in grabbing power or engaging in endless blame games than in ending 23 months of murder and mayhem in Manipur. They appear indifferent to the possibility of Manipur’s prolonged disturbance upsetting NE’s fragile ethnoreligious balance that has seen numerous sectarian clashes since Independence.
If BJP’s wondering whom to choose as Biren’s successor, opposition parties are busy looking for epithets that can damage NDA’s image and win the next election. Neither camp seems interested in permanently healing wounds Manipur has suffered, both soul and body. If unchecked, the violence will hinder Act East policy’s rollout that has already taken a hit from the turmoil in neighbouring Myanmar.

Biren’s resignation sparked speculation on whether central rule might be enforced as it came amid reports of possible revolt by BJP legislators and Congress’s decision to move a no-confidence motion in the assembly. BJP’s decision to change Manipur CM is also attributed to a recent Supreme Court order that asked Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory to examine an audiotape linking Biren to Manipur’s ongoing ethnic clashes.

National People’s Party (NPP) has offered to support a new NDA govt in Manipur. Fearing a possible political backlash at home, Conrad Sangma’s party, in office in Christian-majority Meghalaya, had earlier dumped Biren over his failure to end the violence between predominantly Hindu Meiteis and Christian Kukis. Mizoram, another Christian-majority state, has consistently expressed concern over the Manipur conflict. Mizos and Kukis share a common ethnicity – people spread across NE, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

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