PROVOCATION: It is the decision of the BJP government to confer reservation or the upper caste there is led to the war with the tribals and the Christians.

BY Wire Staff

The mismanagement of the tribal and communal wars by the BJP government has led to a loss of faith in the BJP government in Manipur.

Voices are growing louder by the day with legislators from the BJP and its allies calling for the resignation of chief minister N. Biren Singh. The National Peoples Party (NPP), an ally of the BJP in Manipur, has also threatened to withdraw support to the government.
Nine Meitei MLAs from Manipur have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office, stating that the “public have lost complete faith in the present state government”. Eight of them are BJP MLAs and one of them is an Independent supporting the N. Biren Singh government.
“More than 100 innocent lives have been lost and valuable properties have been damaged due to the ongoing violence. Despite many steps that have been taken to bring the situation under control, not much improvement is seen on the ground. There is a complete breakdown of law and order in the state,” Indian Express quoted MLAs as saying in the memorandum.
The nine MLAs are Karam Shyam Singh, Th. Radheshyam Singh, Nishikant Singh Sapam, Kh. Raghumani Singh, S. Brojen Singh, T. Robindro Singh, S. Rajen Singh, S. Kebi Devi, and Y. Radheshyam.
In fact, one of the nine legislators, Nishikant Singh Sapam, who had earlier met defence minister Rajnath Singh and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with 29 other MLAs – mostly from the Meitei community – had tried to convey that all was well within the BJP. Sapam had said that “the BJP is not a divided party” and that the separate actions were because of “miscommunication”.
However, on the very same day, on Monday, June 19, he also joined the lawmakers who submitted the memorandum to the PMO which said that there is “no trust and confidence in the government and administration”.
“At present, there is no trust and confidence in the government and administration. The public has lost complete faith in the present state government. Some special measures for proper administration and function of the government by following the Rule of Law may kindly be resorted to so that the trust and confidence of the general public are restored,” the memorandum said.
Hindustan Times, quoting BJP legislators from the state, said that “differences have emerged among BJP legislators on [Biren] Singh’s handling of the issue and some of them want him to quit to ensure an early resolution of the crisis”.
Voices are growing louder by the day with legislators from the BJP and its allies calling for the resignation of chief minister Singh. Particularly, some of the BJP leaders are of the view that the failure on the part of Singh’s government to control the situation in the state will affect BJP’s “double-engine government plank” and could also hamper its electoral prospects in the states scheduled to go to polls later this year, including Mizoram. Singh, a Meitei, has also been accused of taking sides by Kuki groups.
“Ten Kuki MLAs, including seven from the BJP, have gone public with their opposition to the chief minister. Though there’s no open and vocal opposition among other BJP MLAs, there are some of us who are unhappy with how he has handled the crisis in Manipur till date and want some changes so that there is an early resolution,” a BJP MLA from Manipur told HT on Tuesday, seeking anonymity.
The National Peoples Party (NPP), an ally of the BJP in Manipur, has also threatened to withdraw support to Singh’s government if the situation does not improve in the next few days. The NPP is the second largest party in the Manipur assembly with seven MLAs in a House of 60.
“Things have gone out of hand for more than a month now. It can’t remain the way it is, or else the people won’t forgive us. We will watch the situation for the next three days. If it doesn’t improve, we will seriously reconsider our support to the state government,” said Yumnam Joykumar, former deputy chief minister and national vice president of NPP.
Supply of essential goods affected
To ensure the supply of essential goods to the tribal district of Churachandpur district in the violence-hit State, the Assam Rifles has moved additional troops to secure a bridge on the National Highway 102 (NH102B). According to The Hindu, security forces received a tip-off that Valley-based Meitei insurgent groups who were planning to damage the bridge at Sinzawl on NH102 B, the only route for transporting supplies to the hill district. The route connects Manipur with neighbouring Mizoram.
With violence still raging on, insurgent groups from both Kuki and Meitei communities have been blocking roads and highways, threatening the transportation of essential goods across the state.
The Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, located in the south of Manipur, has been getting essential supplies by road from Mizoram as protestors have blocked access from the northern Imphal Valley regions of the state. On the other hand, Kuki insurgent groups in the north have blocked the main supply route to the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley, forcing a fallback on an alternative route.
The regions in the state’s southeast – Chandel and Tengnoupal – have been depending on neighbouring Myanmar for the supply of essential goods as it is now cut from the rest of Manipur. These border areas are primarily inhabited by Kuki and Nagas.
Neighbouring Mizoram, on Tuesday, June 20, sent 2,388.50 quintals of rice to “Zo ethnic tribes in troubled Manipur areas and internally displaced persons residing in Mizoram by Govt. Of Mizoram, including other relief supplies”. According to Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga, a total of 11,785 internally displaced people from Manipur have taken shelter in Mizoram since the eruption of ethnic strife in Manipur.

Courtesy: The Wire