Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting on Sunday. This development occurred a day after opposition parties demanded the removal of the chief minister during an all-party meeting chaired by Amit Shah in Delhi.
N Biren Singh arrived in the national capital from Imphal in the morning and had a 45-minute discussion with Amit Shah at his residence. During the meeting, the chief minister briefed the home minister about the situation in Manipur and the measures taken to restore normalcy in the state. After the meeting, N Biren Singh returned to Manipur.
Amit Shah had convened an all-party meeting with 18 parties on Saturday, primarily focused on addressing the violence in Manipur. Several opposition parties recommended that an all-party delegation should visit the violence-affected state to assess the situation firsthand.
“We will reach out to everyone, including the Kuki community. They are also ours. The home minister advised us to work as a team and bring peace to the State,” Mr. Singh said.
The Meira Paibis have been leading protests and blockades, at times obstructing the security forces from carrying out operations. On Saturday, twelve members of a banned extremist outfit detained by the army had to be released as a 1200-strong women-led group surrounded the security forces in Imphal East, the army said.
Mr. Shah is learnt to have told the Chief Minister that he needs to speak to the women groups as it was becoming a problem for the security forces.
The Chief Minister was told that cannot be seen to be having sympathy for any particular community and the crackdown on violence has to begin irrespective of the community involved.
“The chief minister was told that he has to drive home the point among the Meitei that Kukis will be reached out to. He has to convince the people and take care of the State in a bipartisan manner,” the source said. Ten Kuki legislators from the hill districts of Manipur, including seven from the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) have demanded Mr. Singh’s resignation.
Mr. Singh said Internet was unlikely to be restored soon as the situation was not conducive and relaxation in curfew hours was being given in many areas. He said there were enough central security forces in the State and additional force was not required.