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India Today
29-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
BJP legislators meet to push for elected government in Manipur ahead of Delhi talks
Ahead of a high-level meeting between Manipur's civil society organisations and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in New Delhi on the ongoing crisis in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party has convened a meeting of its legislators to push for the restoration of an elected government in the state. 'The BJP legislators have already signalled to the Centre that they are ready to form a popular government,' said former Chief Minister Biren Singh while speaking to reporters after the meeting. advertisementThe meeting comes as part of the BJP's broader roadmap for restoring peace and governance in Manipur, which has been under President's Rule since February 13, following months of ethnic unrest. Biren Singh resigned as Chief Minister on February 9 amid mounting pressure and internal dissent within the BJP. Singh welcomed the scheduled talks between major civil society organisations — Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO), and Federation of Civil Society Organisation (FOCS) — and the MHA, calling it a constructive step towards reconciliation and peace. Monday's meeting in Delhi will mark the third round of dialogue between the civil society groups and central officials regarding the state's has been without a functioning elected government since the imposition of President's Rule, following the ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023. advertisementOf the 60 seats in the Manipur Legislative Assembly, one is currently vacant due to the death of NPP MLA N. Kayisii (Tadubi constituency). Among the 59 remaining members, 22 BJP MLAs attended Sunday's BJP MLAs were absent, reportedly due to health issues or prior commitments. The BJP holds 32 seats in the House, supported by five former JD(U) MLAs who later joined the party, bringing its effective strength to 43 parties in the assembly include the National People's Party (6), JD(U) (6), Naga People's Front (5), Kuki People's Alliance (2), Indian National Congress (5), and three independents. Despite some alliance partners and an independent MLA withdrawing support, the BJP continues to maintain a a significant political divide remains. Ten Kuki-Zo MLAs — including seven from the BJP — continue to demand a separate administration for their community, advocating for Union Territory status in response to the ethnic BJP president A Sharda Devi, reiterated the party's commitment to public sentiment.'To form a popular government, public support is essential. During the recent meeting with central leaders, they acknowledged the sentiments of the people of Manipur who are longing for the restoration of a popular government,' she developments come amid growing calls from both civil society and political actors for the re-establishment of democratic governance in the conflict-affected state.- EndsMust Watch
Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
BJP working on restoring peace, installing popular govt in Manipur, says Biren Singh
Former Manipur CM N Biren Singh has said that the BJP is constantly working towards restoring peace and installing a popular government in the state at the earliest. Singh was talking to reporters after attending a state BJP meeting held on Saturday, chaired by A Sharda Devi, the state BJP president. 'BJP's main objective and concern is to restore peace in the state and install a popular government in Manipur. We have also approached the central leaders many times for the same. Given the current situation in Manipur, we are confident that the central leaders would soon install a popular government. For more than seven months there have been no reports of any hostility between communities. Peace is gradually returning to Manipur,' said Biren Singh. The former CM said that people are realising the threat posed by illegal immigrants and drugs in the entire region, including Manipur. State BJP president, A Sharda Devi said the state BJP has informed the central leaders about the strong desire of the people to have a popular government in the state at the earliest. 'We believe the Centre will do the needful very soon,' she said. Manipur was placed under President's Rule on February 13 days after Biren Singh resigned as the chief minister. While the state legislators had on several occasions met the Governor of Manipur to form a new government, there has been no significant breakthrough.
The Wire
26-06-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
The Meitei Voices From Manipur Who Paid the Price For Criticising Biren Singh
New Delhi: This June 22, a low intensity bomb exploded near the residence of the former Manipur deputy chief minister Y. Joykumar. Police search unearthed another bomb, 'a battery-fitted' one, hidden at a meira shang (a public shed) near his house. Local news reports stated that the bomb was suspected to have been planted at the location by 'militants'. The explosive might have been triggered remotely, according to the police. Though no one was injured, the fact that the bombs were planted on the busy DC Road of Imphal in an afternoon has angered the residents of the area. Local women carried out a sit-in protest urging 'all groups' to 'avoid actions that could put the lives of innocent civilian in danger.' For over two years now, Manipur has been under the cloud of an ethnic conflict. It also means that the two communities directly identified with, and affected by, that conflict – the Kukis and the Meiteis – don't usually step into areas (districts) where they are not in a majority for the fear of coming under communal attack. Even though President's Rule has been clamped in February, that 'buffer zone' between the hill and the valley districts of the border state – a byproduct of that conflict – has not been lifted. Incidents of violence, like the bomb blast on June 22 at Imphal, and one in Churachandpur in April, continue. With none criss-crossing through each other's 'territories', the sit-in protesters in Imphal were essentially urging 'all groups' (read militants/armed militia) belonging only to the valley districts – areas where the Meitei community is in a majority. They were urging the armed groups within their own community not to target them, and other civilians. As such, the conflict has been between the Kukis and the Meities, but it would be ingenuous of anyone to look at it merely as a black and white case where the division has been firmed up only on ethnic lines. Voices questioning N. Biren Singh face threats and physical attacks Many political and civil society voices within the Meitei community who have questioned the chief minister (now former) N. Biren Singh about the conflict that had unfolded under his watch; some expressing concern at the unchallenged power enjoyed by an armed militia like the Arambai Tenggol formed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP L. Sanajaoba, and seen to be backed by Singh as the chief minister, have faced continuous threats and physical attacks – so much so that some such voices have to leave their home state, lest their houses would be burnt; their safety not guaranteed by Manipur Police. Till recently, Biren Singh was also the state's home minister. By now, it is well-known that noted Imphal-based human rights activist Babloo Loitongbam had to leave home for speaking up after he gave an interview to a Newsclick journalist in Imphal during the ethnic conflict in 2023. In the interview, Loitongbam had pointed fingers at Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun for the violence unleashed on the Kuki residents in the valley areas. After the interview, he was accused of bringing a bad name to the Meitei community; his house was vandalised and he was forced to issue an apology. Even after he had left Imphal, in September 2024, at least 50 people from Meitei Leepun had landed up at his office-cum-house and threatened his family. His ageing father was at the house then. It has been two years now that Loitongbam, an important civil society voice from Manipur who also was the force behind the Supreme Court taking note of 1,528 'fake' encounters in that north-eastern state, has to stay in self exile in Delhi and elsewhere. Those 'fake' encounters carried out by security forces in Manipur over a period of time under the cover of Armed Forces (Special Powers ) Act, were mostly on men from the Meitei community. It was an important intervention for the conflict-ridden state, and for the community in general which has been bearing the brunt of the enduring conflict in that state. And yet, Loitongbam has to stay away from his family at Imphal now because of the direct threats to him and his family by radical groups like Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, with state police unable to give him protection. Yet another example of such a self-exile from the Meitei community during the ethnic conflict is 68-year-old Nabashyam Heigrujan, chairman of the Meitei World Council. The website of the Imphal-based Council describes itself as a 'movement' that 'envisages the re-awakening and rejuvenation of the Meetei people through conscious collective efforts for social advancement, the pursuit of happiness and reclaiming our instruments of humanity to achieve our cause for a dignified life.' The Council bats for granting Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community. Though Nabashyam, who also taught at the Imphal College, is now a civil society activist, in 2017, he had contested the state elections, unsuccessfully, as a candidate of the Trinamool Congress. After he moved to Delhi in mid-2024, Nabashyam, in an interview to The Wire, had categorically stated that the Biren Singh government 'could have controlled' the situation on May 3, 2023, but it didn't. Also Read: Manipur Tapes: CM's Brother, Arambai Tenggol Founder's Threats To 'Traitors' Who Leaked Tapes to 'Enemy' Contradict Biren's 'Doctored' Claim He had also said that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had wanted to restore order and peace in Manipur, he could have done it 'in 24 hours buts has failed to do so'. On asked why he had to leave Imphal for good last year, Nabashyam told this correspondent, 'My only mistake seemed to be that I took to social media platform X last year to say that the then chief minister Biren Singh was responsible for what is happening in Manipur. As the CM, it was his duty to maintain law and order in my state. I spoke up. And since that day, my life has not remained the same." "Twice, armed thugs came to my house in Imphal to threaten me. An FIR was also filed against me on false charges. I finally had to seek bail from the court. I realised I will have to self-exile myself. So, in July 2024, I shifted base to Delhi while my wife has remained in Imphal. Because of that tweet, I am separated from my family,' Nabashyam had added. Nabashyam said, 'Even in Delhi, the address was somehow found and three thugs were sent to threaten me so that I don't speak against Biren Singh.' 'It is only money power. In Manipur, if you give money today, it is not difficult to take one's life.' On reminding him that there is President's Rule in the state, he replied, 'There is no popular government in Manipur yet; the situation is still fluid. Singh may not be the chief minister anymore, but he is still very powerful. He has money power. It is not safe for me to return home as yet.' When armed group 'close to Singh' picked up veteran journalist This correspondent reached out to veteran journalist Laba Yambem who was picked up from his residence in Imphal by militants belonging to the United National Liberation Front (Pambei) just a day after Biren Singh had to step down as the chief minister this past February. His offence was, speaking up against a militant group from the Meitei community which had, in November 2023, signed a peace agreement with the Modi government, facilitated by Biren Singh. The group is seen 'close to Singh' in the state. Laba had stated on a local television channel in Imphal then the need for the government to control the outfit, which is overground with arms even after having signed the peace deal. Laba had to eventually upload a video, taking back his words as the price for his freedom. Considered a vocal critic of Biren Singh, the journalist who contributes to The Statesman, was also arrested in October 2024 in a case which he had categorically called 'fake'. Some months ago, he had also filed a petition on phone tapping with the National Human Rights Commission. Laba recounted, 'A lot of things have happened before that abduction in February. Just days after the ethnic conflict broke out, I had alleged that the victory of Biren Singh's second wife from the Chandel assembly seat in 2022 was done with help of Kuki militants. It was confirmed to me by one of their top leaders. I had alleged that it was the reason why Biren Singh did not act against Kuki boys forming part of the May 3 2023 rally with M-16 rifles which eventually led to the violence." "The news was published in Sangai Express, which under the pressure of the chief minister, also carried an apology for that story. In September 2024, at around 3.30 am, my house in Imphal came under heavy gun fire just because I had issued a statement that day to the effect that Biren is not Manipur and that Manipur is not Biren and the choice is before the people of Manipur," said Laba. "Then, in November, 2024, at least 30 armed men barged into my residence and at gunpoint directed me to remove a Facebook post which I had uploaded that day. I had immediately informed the police but it took them one month to take up the investigation. The point is, the room for a free and fair discussion on any topic relating to the state and society no longer exists in Manipur,' Laba added. He then repeated what Nabashyam had told The Wire, 'Biren Singh is no longer in power but the disruption done to the body polity of the state remains.' Prior to joining politics, Biren Singh was a fellow journalist. In Imphal, a well-known story goes that once, Singh, as a journalist, was 'summoned' by the Meitei militant group, UNLF, along with some others, a practice long endured by many in that state. Singh was asked to stay back by the banned armed group while all others were allowed to leave. 'It was all thanks to Pradip Panjhoubham (then the editor of the Imphal Free Press) who insisted that since they came together, they should leave together. He was allowed to return but the newspaper he headed then was banned from publishing (by the militants),' Laba recalled. He also added, 'Finally, it was me who did the negotiations to ensure that the publication of that paper was resumed. I cooked lunch and invited everyone home to ensure that the compromise between UNLF, Biren Singh who was its editor, and the publisher David went through.' Inspite of such threats, Laba, though, has stayed put in Imphal. On asked about it, he quoted Shakespeare, 'I returned from Delhi in 1983 because it's my homeland, my country. I intend to stay here because as William Shakespeare had famously said in Macbeth, 'Come what may, time and hour runs through the roughest day.'' Yet another person who has chosen to continue staying in Imphal, even though she has been relentlessly threatened by armed militias allegedly close to powers be, is former decorated police officer Thonoujam Brinda. During the conflict, she came across as a powerful voice in the valley areas to have questioned the chief minister about his claim about drug peddling only by the Kuki community. That she particularly chose to speak up about Singh as the chief minister 'asking' her to not go after a drug 'king pin' from the Kuki community in 2020 even though he was caught with contraband by her team, made her a target for groups like Meitei Leepun. 'Singh is using brute force as a means to silence his critics' Though not all can endure the pressure from the near and dear ones to either remain quiet, or leave Manipur, for the fear of being harmed. Erendro Leichombam is one such name from the Meitei community. An alumni of Harvard University, Erendro had returned home around 2016 and co-formed a political party, People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance, with noted Manipuri anti-AFSPA activist Irom Sharmila. They contested assembly elections in 2017, unsuccessfully. Sharmila, thereafter, left Manipur and Erendro continued in Imphal as a political activist. In 2018, he was charged under the National Security Act (NSA) for commenting on a video clip where some men from Bihar were seen threatening to eliminate Manipuris. State police asked him to remove the video with the comments from Facebook which he refused; called it a hate video and said that 'while the state cyber crime branch had arrested a person in no time for threatening to kill the son of the chief minister N. Biren Singh, those threatening to kill Manipuris were not being arrested by the police.' Alongside Erendro, an Imphal-based young journalist Wangkhem Kishorechandra was also arrested under the NSA. That was Kishore's third arrest in the Biren era. All those arrests were triggered by his scathing criticism of the chief minister, PM Modi and the BJP-RSS. He continues to reside in Imphal. Just recently, Erendro was granted political asylum by the United States, and has since left the country. This June 19, he wrote a long post on Facebook about his self exile. 'I did not choose exile. It arrived like a severance – swift, political, intimate…I was an outspoken political activist. I spoke my mind, loudly and clearly – and for that, I was imprisoned. More than once, Eventually, I was forced to leave not because I was wrong, but because I would not stop. I left Manipur in 2022," Erendro said. "In 2025, I was granted political asylum by the United States government. America has gracefully given me political asylum. It was a moment of profound relief – and sorrow. Relief, because I was safe. Sorrow because exile is never a celebration. It is a confirmation that something deeply unjust has taken root in one's homeland,' Erendro added in the post. Yet another civil rights activist from Imphal, Binalakshmi Nepram, has also been in the United States in political asylum after facing threats to her life for supporting a family whose son was allegedly gunned down by Biren Singh's son in broad daylight in Imphal in 2017. 'While Bina has not come home, as per a Supreme Court order, her parents' house in Sagolband area of Imphal is still being guarded by a team of the Central Reserve Police Force,' related Laba. Even though threats to Bina took place during the first term of Biren Singh as the BJP chief minister, Laba said it was 'good and Manipur was poised to return to normalcy'. But what happened in the second term? 'If you ask me, Singh has no experience in handling crisis of such magnitude, and therefore, began using brute force as a means to silence his critics, both in politics, civil society and media.'
Hindustan Times
14-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Manipur: 328 firearms, 10,600 rounds seized as forces step up arms crackdown
Imphal: At least 328 firearms and 10,600 rounds of ammunition were recovered during search operations in the outskirts of five valley districts — Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Thoubal, and Kakching — in Manipur, police said on Saturday. The joint operation was carried out on Friday by the Manipur police, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), Indian Army, and Assam Rifles (AR). 'The operations were launched during the intervening night of June 13 and 14, 2025, based on specific intelligence inputs suggesting the presence of hidden weapons in these areas,' a statement issued by the Manipur Police on Saturday read. According to the statement, the 328 firearms recovered in the operation include 151 self-loading rifles (SLRs), 65 INSAS rifles, 73 assorted rifles, 12 light machine guns (LMGs), 6 AK-series rifles, 5 carbine guns, 2 MP5 guns, 2 Amogh rifles, one AR-15 rifle, six pistols, two flare guns, one mortar, and two barrels. Additionally, over 10,600 rounds of ammunition were seized. 'This included 3,534 SLR rounds, 2,186 INSAS rounds, 2,252 .303 rounds, 407 Amogh rounds, 234 AK rounds, and 20 rounds of 9mm ammunition. The operation also led to the recovery of 591 assorted magazines, 10 hand grenades, three lathodes, seven detonators, and three para rounds,' the statement read. 'The Manipur Police reiterated its commitment to maintaining peace and security and urged the public to cooperate by reporting any suspicious activities or illegal arms hoarding to the nearest police station or the Central Control Room. Security forces are expected to continue such operations in a focused and sustained manner to bring lasting normalcy to the region,' additional director general of police (ADGP) of Manipur Police Lhari Dorjee Lhatoo said. Also read: Manipur: Ban on internet service lifted in five districts This latest recovery, which is part of a broader crackdown by the authorities to curb the circulation of illegal arms in Manipur, comes amid ongoing tensions following the arrest of five Arambai Tengol volunteers, including a key leader, Asem Kanan, who was formally arrested by a central bureau of investigation (CBI) team on June 8 at Imphal's Bir Tikendrajit International Airport. The remaining four volunteers were released late Sunday night. In response, the Meitei group Arambai Tengol called for a 10-day total shutdown in the state, which was suspended on June 10, coinciding with the visit of former chief minister N. Biren Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba to the national capital after being summoned by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 9. Since the outbreak of violence on May 3, 2023, more than 6,000 weapons and lakhs of rounds of ammunition were looted from police armouries across the state. Also Read: Amit Shah keen on restoring elected government in Manipur: Former CM Biren Singh After Ajay Kumar Bhalla was appointed Governor of Manipur, he issued an appeal on February 20, 2025, urging all communities to surrender looted and illegal arms within seven days. On the final day of the ultimatum, February 27, Arambai Tengol surrendered 307 weapons. However, Kuki-Zo groups refused to comply with the Governor's directive, declaring that they would not relinquish their weapons until their demand for a separate administration was fulfilled.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Manipur's ex-CM Biren Singh, Leishemba Sanajaoba meet Amit Shah, seek assistance to restore peace in state
Guwahati: Former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba met Union Home minister Amit Shah and sought his assistance in restoring peace in Manipur and installing a popular government. Both the leaders held two rounds of discussions on June 9 and June 10 with Shah. Manipur has been under President's rule since February this year. Talking to media persons on his arrival in Imphal from New Delhi, Biren Singh said Shah has assured them that there would be no compromise on the territorial integrity of Manipur. He said Shah made an appeal for restoring peace in the state. 'We discussed several issues, including the plight of internally displaced people , the current crisis in Manipur and the Free Movement Regime. Shah has started meeting community leaders as a step towards resolving the crisis,' Biren Singh said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cyberjaya: New Two Bed Senior Apartments Are Stunning! (Take A Look) Senior Living | Search Ads Search Now Undo 'We have apprised him on the demand for a popular government in the state. Shah assured that they also want to form a government but will observe the situation and take a call after discussions.' Recently, Manipur witnessed fresh protests and prohibitory orders was clamped in the five valley districts. The Manipur government has suspended Internet and mobile data services in five valley districts for five days after protests in Imphal East and Imphal West districts following the arrest of a leader of the Meitei radical outfit 'Arambai Tenggol'. Live Events
