28 Meitei BJP MLAs met with Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, and Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, on Monday in New Delhi. A day before, the team headed by Speaker T Satyabrata Singh had arrived.
What did the 28 Meitei BJP MLAs demand regarding Manipur violence?
The state’s territorial integrity should not change, and the Centre should withdraw from the tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Kuki-Zomi rebel groups.
Similar requests were made when the group of 28 Meitei BJP MLAs met Sambit Patra, the BJP’s state director for Manipur, along with one representative from each of the NPP and JD(U) and the NPP. On Tuesday, they will also have a meeting with BJP National General Secretary B L Santhosh.
The emphasis on territorial integrity emerges amid ongoing Manipur violence, bloody fighting between the Meiteis and Kuki-Zomi tribes in Manipur. The Kuki-Zomi group has expressed a need for a separate government as a result of the violence.
“Sambit Patra communicated with Home Minister Amit Shah on the phone,” a delegation member said after the meeting with Patra, according to The Indian Express. The geographical integrity of the state will be upheld, the Home Minister has reaffirmed and underlined.
Shah had made a similar promise during his journey to Manipur last month.
“We came here to learn how soon peace can be established. In light of this, we have brought up a few problems with the Defence and Finance Ministers. We wanted to talk about several party-related matters, including the claim made by S. S. Haokip, the leader of the UKLF (a Kuki insurgent organisation), that the UKLF had assisted the BJP in winning the elections. It was necessary to clarify this because it had been discussed in Manipur, according to an MLA. The senior executives were questioned for more information. The party would release a clarification in a day or two, they informed us, and there is no such tactical agreement or deal involving the party and the SoO organisations.
The 28 Meitei BJP MLAs also brought up the urgent need for products to be transported on National Highway 2, an arterial lifeblood of the Imphal valley and leading to Kohima in Nagaland. The Kanpokpi district, which is controlled by Kuki, is traversed by the highway.
“The Kukis have blocked the roadway, preventing vital supplies from reaching Imphal. This barrier has occasionally been lifted, but it keeps coming back, and we need to find a solution right away. An MLA stated, “The Union ministers have informed us that this will be completed as soon as possible.
The delegation also brought up alleged violations of the contract by the Kuki-Zomi rebel groups and demanded that the Centre disengage from the SoO agreement concerning the insurgent groups. The delegation urged the Centre to “handle the delegations firmly, in a manner that is apparent on the ground.”
N Biren Singh, the chief minister of Manipur, unilaterally left the SoO agreement earlier this year, alleging the rebel groups’ ongoing support for the narcotics trade. The Centre had not approved of this withdrawal.
The MLAs also requested that the border wall be put in place right once and that illegal immigrants and Myanmarese “militia” be kept out of the state.
