Manipur under PR for over 2 months : Handpicked men from Delhi
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 19, 2025 -

Over 60 days since Manipur came under President’s Rule but have things taken a turn for the better ?

The answer is out there and a look at the reality will answer that.

Certainly direct clashes or the sounds of gunfire have gone down, but can peace be understood in the context of absence of violence or gun shots alone ?

Raj Bhavan and the men picked by New Delhi and deputed here certainly have a lot to answer for.

Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh has been here just a few days after violence erupted in the evening of May 3, 2023.

Likewise DGP Rajiv Singh too was sent here to give a fresh understanding of policing and Chief Secretary PK Singh is a man handpicked by Delhi to work in tandem with Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Security Advisor and the DGP.

And the Security Advisor, the Chief Secretary and the DGP came here before PR was imposed and in the process Delhi made sure that it gave a new meaning to the understanding that the Chief Secretary and the DGP are officers appointed by the Chief Minister at his discretion.

All men picked by Delhi and this is where the unsaid but obvious should become clear and it was this very reason why it came to light that though the office of the then Chief Minister had directed the Security Advisor and the DGP to be on the alert before the violence at Jiribam in the latter part of 2024, no heed was given to the instruction and what unfolded at Jiribam have been added to the list of killings and outrage since the evening of May 3, 2023.

In between Manipur and Imphal in particular was witness to the people, particularly young students taking to the streets and marching towards the Raj Bhavan to reinstate the then Chief Minister as the Chairman of the Unified Command, a post which had been given to the Security Advisor soon after Manipur went up in flames in 2023.

It is in taking cognizance of these facts that many saw the imposition of President’s Rule as bringing to an end a period of Proxy Rule.

An arrangement where Delhi called the crucial shots but could not be officially held accountable.

Now with PR in place, Delhi is officially in charge and in the last 60 days what significant steps have been taken to put Manipur on the road of normalcy ?

Soon after PR was imposed, Governor AK Bhalla lost no time in urging all concerned to surrender illegal arms and even extended the window period to surrender the arms.

Many arms, mainly from the valley, were surrendered or returned, but not much was heard of such arms being returned in the hill districts, particularly in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal.

Far from it, even days after the window period to surrender the arms had expired, a video of fully armed Kuki militants playing football with the Salai Taret flag of the Meitei community emerged.

Under PR for over two months now and yet the National Highways, particularly NH-2, remain cut off to Meitei community for nearly 2 years now.

It was obviously to show that PR means something concrete that Union Home Minister Amit Shah issued instructions to ensure the free movement of all from March 8 that the great NH-2 (mis)adventure was staged on the said day without any proactive steps such as deploying road opening parties or taking up restrictive measures like imposing curfew on either side of the National Highway on March 8.

The free movement call had to ultimately beat a hasty retreat in the face of the stringent opposition put up by the Kuki-Zo people.

And so the same script continues, as it was before PR came to Manipur.

Top this off with the manner in which Meitei pilgrims had to cut short their stated objective of offering prayers at Mt Thangjing and things should be clear.

As pointed out earlier here, incidents of shooting and direct clashes have come down, but the absence of violence cannot be equated to normalcy and this is a fact that stands even as Delhi has directly stepped in and put all its hand picked men in positions where it matters.

Raj Bhavan certainly has a lot to answer and if one goes by what has been happening since February 13, then Manipur will step into the third year of the clash unchanged.

Normalcy is still far off and Delhi does not seem to have a clue.