‘Need political solution from centre’: Editorials on Manipur violence

A fresh wave of violence has killed at least 10 people in strife-torn Manipur since September 6.

This comes after over 15 months of continued tensions between the Kukis and Meiteis, the former's demand for a separate administration amid allegations of a partisan state government, and despite Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s promise to restore peace within six months.

Meanwhile, the editorials in several prominent newspapers pointed to the need for a “political solution” by the centre, with some also declaring Singh unfit to remain in power. 

An editorial in Times of India said that CM Biren Singh’s two recent demands to hand over the command structure for law and order to the state government and revoke the Suspension of Operations Agreement with some militant outfits are problematic and risk escalation. 

“Any solution perceived as partisan by either side won’t work. While security forces continue with their targeted operations against miscreants, Manipur’s genuine civil society, cutting across ethnic divides, must be encouraged to reverse social polarisation. It is they who should be leading the discourse, not armed groups – supported by political elements – on both sides.”   

Deccan Chronicle noted that the Manipur situation has reached a “flashpoint”, and the centre is hardly left with an option “other than resolute and transparent action towards finding a political solution to a political issue”, including the possibility of an “autonomous administration” for Kukis.

“Attempts to keep the partisan state administration with a failed chief minister at the top could take the state to a point of no return… There has been little effort to find a political solution to the issue, forcing the warring factions to intensify their agitations and taking their battle to newer and more dangerous heights. The Kukis, who claim they are discriminated against by the Meitei-dominated state administration have been demanding a separate administrative region for the hill areas where they mostly reside… A democratic, non-partisan and focused approach would have already got Manipur back on the peace track, but it has not been attempted yet.  It will be ill-advised for the Union government to resort to force to settle the issue that has cropped up between two brotherly peoples of the same state.”

Hindustan Times noted that the clashes seems to have engulfed “almost the entire state” and CM Biren Singh’s push for the security apparatus to be brought under the state’s control is “unlikely to work”. 

“The original conundrum in Manipur — a lack of trust between communities, and between some communities and the administration — has not been addressed by the state government. This cannot be resolved with a securitised approach, as has been made clear over the last 16 months; it needs a political process that listens sensitively to the concerns of all sides, and leaders who have the confidence of every community. And it needs a clear and transparent process of accountability where every victim of violence gets their time in court, and impartial justice. A wounded state needs a salve, not force and political posturing.”

The Tribune said that the central and state governments have “fared poorly”, becoming “a rather bad advertisement for a double-engine government. The left hand doesn’t seem to know what the right one is doing.”

“Both the Central and state governments have let things drift for far too long in the troubled northeastern state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been visiting one country after another, has not set foot in Manipur after February 22, 2022. That election-related trip took place just a couple of days before the Russia-Ukraine war began, and the PM has toured both nations in recent months. Defending the indefensible, Biren has stated that the PM did send Home Minister Amit Shah to the state and also spoke about Manipur in Parliament as well as in his 2023 Independence Day speech. But all that has certainly not proved enough to defuse tensions and reduce hostilities.”

In an earlier editorial, Indian Express noted that Singh’s call for the handing over of the control of a unified command of security forces to the state government on grounds of partisanship and ineffectuality “is part of a disappointing script of abdication of responsibility, a shifting of blame”. “The situation in Manipur is a result of the dereliction of duties by the Centre and the state administration.”

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