Ten Kuki-Zo MLAs have urged the Commission of Inquiry, established by the Home Ministry, to expedite its investigation into a purported audio tape of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. The MLAs claim the tape implicates Singh in the ethnic clashes that erupted in Manipur in May 2023, a state bordering Myanmar.
The ten MLAs, including members from the ruling BJP, stated in a Wednesday statement that the commission must fast-track its proceedings and hold Singh accountable “for his crimes if his guilt is established.”
“He must also be immediately debarred from the office of the Chief Minister so that he is prevented from influencing the outcome of the probe against him,” the ten MLAs said.
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The Manipur government has twice refuted the allegations: first on August 7, when the Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) released part of the audio clip, and again on August 20, when The Wire reported on the matter. The state government described the audio clip as “doctored” and intended to derail peace talks.
The KSO expressed deep shock and outrage on Monday regarding the continued inaction of the Indian government concerning the leaked audio recording of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
The ten Kuki-Zo MLAs have intensified their allegations, referencing a Facebook post by the Chief Minister’s brother, Rajendro Nong, who was “seen threatening those who sold out such sensitive tapes to others.”
Citing the purported audio tape, the MLAs have called on the Union government to accelerate their demand for a separate administration in the form of a Union Territory with a legislature, asserting that this is the only path to lasting peace in the region.
“The complicity of the CM in the state-sponsored ethnic cleansing, which we have always maintained since day one, has now been established beyond an iota of doubt. The CM can be clearly heard reassuring his audience, which from his tone and tenor can safely be assumed to be members of his militia, that they (central agencies) have to arrest him first before any of them, and that they should not promptly show up when summoned to give him time to intervene,” the ten Kuki-Zo MLAs said, referring to the Meitei group Arambai Tenggol (AT), whose members reportedly took up arms following attacks by heavily armed Kuki insurgents and a lack of effective law enforcement after May 3, 2023.
The Chief Minister, affiliated with the BJP, belongs to the Meitei community, which dominates the valley. In the early days of the ethnic clashes after May 3, AT chief Korounganba Khuman was seen in visuals walking with a bamboo stick, while smoke rose from a village in the background. Additional visuals from May 3, 2023, showed men in camouflage carrying AK series rifles walking towards protesters from the Kuki tribes, with smoke visible from huts in the distance.
Some Kuki civil society groups have denied knowledge of the Chief Minister’s comments in the state assembly that leaders from the Meitei community and various Kuki tribes have been discussing peace at different levels.
These Kuki civil society organizations, along with the ten MLAs and 25 Kuki-Zo insurgent groups that have signed the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, have been demanding a separate administration, uniting them on a common platform.
The SoO groups had been negotiating for a separate administration long before May 2023, with some Kuki leaders’ claims that the violence prompted their demand for separation being disputed by two leaders in the Manipur government, who spoke to NDTV on condition of anonymity.
“Thousands of Meiteis and Kukis are living in relief camps. The question everyone should be asking is, why are the displaced people who are living in miserable conditions not being allowed to return home safely? Look at who all are opposing the return of displaced people to their homes. It is not difficult to see,” one of the leaders told NDTV from Imphal.
The ten Kuki-Zo MLAs, who have not attended state assembly sessions since May 2023, have cited threats to their safety and declined to share space with the Chief Minister, citing the violence that broke out under his administration and led to the exodus of Kuki tribes from Imphal. Meiteis also had to leave their homes in Kuki-dominated hill districts and foothills.
The clashes between the Meitei community and nearly two dozen Kuki tribes have resulted in over 220 deaths and displaced nearly 50,000 people.
The Meiteis seek inclusion under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kuki tribes, sharing ethnic ties with Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram, demand a separate administration, citing discrimination and unequal distribution of resources and power.
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