ST status to Meitei, illegal immigrants verification led to Manipur crisis: Biren

Imphal: The major core issue leading to the ongoing violence is the recommendation of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei by the High Court of Manipur and the verification of illegal immigrants in the state.

This was said by chief minister N. Biren on the first day of the ongoing 6th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly session on Wednesday.

Biren was clarifying the amendment motions raised by three opposition MLAs, including the opposition leader Okram Ibobi, on the Governor’s address.

He said after the recommendation of ST status to the Meitei by the High Court of Manipur, some groups of people demonstrated a mass rally against the recommendation. Unfortunately, those who were waiting to take advantage initiated the violence from a democratic form of agitation. Due to misunderstandings among the public, the present violence has extended, he added.

Concerning the safety of the people of Manipur, the government did not take serious action while controlling the violence, the chief minister said.

The state government had already acknowledged that many of the illegal immigrants who instigated the violence had mixed with the people of Manipur. So, force was not utilized seriously in controlling the violence, he added.

He said that as part of restoring peace, legislators from the present government who are not from the Meitei community were sent to Nagaland and Delhi to initiate peace talks with the Kuki CSOs and MLAs. Biren did not disclose the identities of the legislators and kept it confidential due to security measures.

Biren said that earlier, before the May 3 incident, a committee was formed led by one of his cabinet ministers, Letpao Haokip, for the verification of illegal immigrants. The verification process is similar to NRC, and during the first phase of verification, 2,480 illegal immigrants were detected from Tengnoupal, Chandel, Kamjong, and Churachandpur.

He said when the state government tried to continue the verification process after receiving information that illegal immigrants were establishing a village, villagers near Sajik Tampak stopped the verification team, informing them that a gunfight was occurring in the area.

Biren also strongly condemned the increasing activities of extortion after the May 3 violence.