There has been “complicity of the state” in the violence that rocked Manipur, claimed BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip, according to a report. The MLA is one of the 10 tribal legislators of the northeastern state who had demanded a separate administration for the Kuki-dominated districts of the state in a letter to Chief Minister Biren Singh in May.
“Proof of state complicity can clearly be discerned from the fact that what started out as a purely ethnic-communal violence was later on attempted to be portrayed by the Chief Minister as the state's war on 'narco terrorists'," Haokip wrote in an opinion article for India Today.
Meiteis Airlift Plans Amidst Violence with Kukis in Mizoram
The statement comes even as the Manipur government has planned to airlift Meiteis from Mizoram, one of the two communities engaged in violence with the Kukis, from Aizawl after an organisation of former militants in Mizoram asked Meiteis to leave for their home state for their “own safety”.
The violence was perpetrated by the valley-majority Meitei community and was “tacitly supported” by the BJP-run state government, alleged the 10 MLAs, of which seven are from the BJP, according to a report in NDTV. The Chief Minister had rejected the demand for a separate administration, saying “the territorial integrity of Manipur will be protected”, according to the report.
“A biased government anywhere is detrimental to peace, and although such bias was always present in some degree in Manipur, it accentuated under the current Chief Minister,” Haokip wrote in the article in India Today.
Tensions and Safety Concerns in Mizoram
The Manipur government, meanwhile, has planned to airlift Meiteis from Mizoram, after an organisation of former militants in Mizoram asked the Meiteis to leave for their home state for their “own safety”.
“The situation in Mizoram has become tense and it is no longer safe for Meitei people from Manipur to live in Mizoram in the wake of barbaric and heinous acts committed by miscreants in Manipur,” PAMRA, an organisation of former militants in Aizawl, said on Friday.
The organisation stated that there is “anger among Mizo youths” over the incident of two women being disrobbed, paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a group of men on May 4, a video of which surfaced on Wednesday, sparking huge outrage.
Uncertainty Surrounding Evacuation Process
The Manipur government plans to use special ATR flights operating between Aizawl-Imphal and Aizawl-Silchar to airlift the people.
The Mizoram Police have stepped up security arrangements to ensure the safety of Meiteis in Aizawl city, according to reports. Security has been beefed up at Vety College, Selesih; Mizoram University, Tanhril; RIPANS, Zemabawk and ZMC, Falkawn.
However, the details of when the evacuation process will start are not out yet and this has left the few thousand Meiteis, mostly from Manipur and south Assam, who live in Mizoram wondering about their fate.
“There are plans by the government to airlift Meiteis from Aizawl but when the evacuation will take place, is yet to be confirmed,” said a Meitei student living in Aizawl.
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