‘With folded hands’: Shah urges Kukis, Meitis to hold talks, end violence in Manipur

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday (August 9) appealed to the warring Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur to hold parleys and find a solution to end the three-month-long conflict in the north-eastern state, as Lok Sabha adopted a resolution calling for the same.

Intervening in the debate on the no-confidence motion after Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders slammed the government’s handling of the Manipur situation, Shah urged them not to politicise the issue of ethnic violence in the state.

“I agree with the Opposition that there is a cycle of violence in Manipur … Nobody can support such incidents. Whatever happened is shameful, but to politicise those events is even more shameful,” he said.

“Through this House, I appeal with folded hands to both the communities that violence is not a solution for any problem, join the talks. Sit down with the government and find a solution to the problem. Rumours only create an atmosphere of distrust,” he said.

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Shah minister said 152 people were killed, 14,898 people arrested and 1,106 FIRs registered since violence erupted on May 3. Lok Sabha also adopted a resolution read out by Speaker Om Birla appealing for peace in Manipur that was enthusiastically supported by the NDA members in the presence of the Opposition.

‘Manipur CM won’t be sacked’

In his nearly two-hour intervention, Shah ruled out a change of guard in Manipur asserting that the chief minister was cooperating with the Centre in the efforts to restore peace. He rejected the opposition demand to impose President’s Rule in Manipur saying the need would have arisen had the chief minister been non-cooperative.

“We changed the chief secretary, director general of police a day after the violence broke out. We also appointed a security advisor and made him in-charge of the unified command mechanism,” he said.

On the video of the May 4 incident, in which two women were stripped and paraded naked by a mob that appeared on July 19, Shah said the government was not aware of it. He also questioned the intention of leaking the video on social media ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament.

“Why did it emerge a day before the parliament session? Had the video been given to the DGP on May 4, the culprits would have been arrested on May 5. Nine people were identified, arrested, and are facing trial on the day the video came to light,” he said.

Violence seeing downward trend: Shah

Shah spoke on the origin of hostilities and urged the two warring communities to come to the dialogue table. “I urge both communities (Kukis and Meiteis) to sit with the Centre and talk to resolve the issue. We do not wish to change the demography. I am talking to them personally. Please do not politicise this,” he said.

Shah said violence in Manipur was witnessing a downward trend as of the total 152 deaths so far, 107 had taken place in May, 30 in June, 15 in July and four in August.

Launched into politics 13 times: Shah’s dig at Rahul

Shah also accused Rahul of creating drama during his tour to Manipur when the government was ready to facilitate his visit to Churachandpur and other areas. The Home Minister said the Congress leader refused the government’s offer to visit Churachandpur by helicopter and insisted on making a road journey. “He resorted to satyagraha on day one and then took a helicopter ride to Churachandpur the next day,” Shah said and urged the opposition not to add fuel to the fire with such incidents.

In a swipe at Rahul, the minister said, “In this House, there is a leader who has been launched in politics 13 times till now, and he has failed all thirteen times.”

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Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Northeast more than 50 times in nine years and has worked to bring development and “reduce emotional distances”.

“During the Congress rule, there were numerous incidents of violence in Manipur, yet no Home Minister visited there. I stayed there for three days, and our MoS (Minister of State) Shri Nityanand Rai stayed there continuously for 23 days,” Shah said.

He also said that during the last years, a total of 8000 armed insurgents from the Northeast have surrendered. The home minister said problems started in Manipur with the influx of Kuki refugees from neighbouring Myanmar after the military rulers there started a crackdown against militants in 2021. The Kuki refugees started settling down in the jungles in the Manipur valley, raising fears of a demographic change in the region, Shah said. The unrest in the Manipur valley began when rumours began to circulate that the refugee settlements have been declared as villages, Shah said.

He said the Manipur High Court order to fast-track the process for the inclusion of Meiteis in the list of Scheduled Tribes added fuel to the fire. Shah said Centre has established a peace committee as part of efforts to restore normalcy. “Over 36,000 security personnel have been stationed between Kukis and Meiteis as a buffer zone. The anger has not subsided yet, but violence has reduced.”

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“A unified command has been created to coordinate between BSF, CRPF, Assam Rifles and Manipur police deployed there. Six cases of conspiracy have been handed over to the CBI,” Shah said.

(With inputs from agencies)