Amit Shah continues to lie about Manipur to hide the fact that the Centre has done nothing to resolve the problem there. He has claimed that the number of incidents had come down in the last month, except for the last week when things flared up again. There has been no normalcy in Manipur for the last three months, despite his claims. The Home Minister should realise that the spike in incidents in the last week could be indicative of the start of another phase of violence and mayhem. The police in Manipur have also said that from recent seizures of arms, the tribals seem to be better equipped than the police force and are also lately using high-tech devices like drones and rockets.
Shah has also stated that the Centre has been talking to both Meitei and Kuki groups to achieve peace and that there is a roadmap to resolve the problem. But just 10 days ago, why did CM Biren Singh meet the Governor to ask the Centre to initiate a dialogue between the warring groups? Is the CM not being kept in the loop about the peace discussions? Some time ago, when the Centre claimed that discussions with the tribal groups were taking place, the representatives of the Meitei and Kuki associations put out a public statement saying that, as far as they were aware, no discussions had occurred, and neither had they received any invitation to such meetings.
However, there is one change in Amit Shah's stance: the Centre is not asking for CM Singh's resignation, while earlier it was rumoured that with increased militancy, he would be asked to go. As for Narendra Modi visiting Manipur, one must feel happy that Shah has not rejected this outright and has said that when the time comes, the Prime Minister will visit. One hopes that time for Modi will come soon. Shah should not lie about situations like Manipur to convey a false sense of action and performance by the government, and try to lull people into believing in peace and calm, which is not the reality.
First, it was lying about Kashmir, and now it is Manipur.
