Waiting for evidence
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 20, 2024 -

IN an interesting turn of event, Kuldiep Singh, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1986 batch who was not only appointed as the security advisor to the Chief Minister of Manipur but also took charge of the Unified Command just a day after the outbreak of an unprecedented violent conflict between the Kuki-Chin and Meitei/Meetel communities that has been raging in the tiny northeastern Indian state since May 3 last year, appears to have finally acknowledged the possible involvement of militants based in Myanmar in the attack on security forces in the border town of Moreh.

What is significant in this acknowledgement of the Security Advisor is the fact that just a week back he had completely ruled out the possibility of involvement of any Myanmar-based militia in the surge in attacks on security forces deployed in the border town since December last year.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a commemorative event in Imphal recently, Kuldiep Singh was quoted to have said "there is no proof of involvement of Kuki-Chin militants based in Myanmar in these attacks so far. However, reports have been received that attacks on security forces in Moreh are carried out by Kuki village volunteers and suspected Kuki militants."

But in a press briefing held at the Chief Minister's Secretariat on Thursday evening, Kuldiep Singh referred to the Myanmar-based insurgent group People's Defence Force (PDF) which is fighting the military junta in the civil-war torn country neighbouring India, and said, "PDF insurgents operating in Moreh, and maybe some reinforcements from Burma side may also attack state forces in Moreh".

Unfortunately, when media persons pressed him for further explanation so as not to misquote him in anyway, Kuldiep Singh hastened to add, "There is a possibility they (Myanmar insurgents) may have come, but there's no evidence. There is intelligence that PDF may join, may attack the state forces at Moreh".

By playing with the words and phrases like "there is a possibility," "PDF may join, may attack the state forces," etc., before concluding his statement with the coordinating clause, "but there's no evidence," Kuldiep Singh has not really admitted or acknowledge anything.

All he has done again is compounding the confusion in the minds of the people surrounding the question of how the so-called "poor and defenceless" Kuki village volunteers or for that matter Kuki militants have got access to sophisticated weapons like sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenades (RPCs) and other explosive devices, which are conventional military arsenal used in full-blown war situation, not in communal riot, as the Security Advisor had described the ongoing conflict in Manipur at one time.

As we have pointed out through this column earlier, if Kuldiep Singh, who is working in the capacity of not just the security advisor to the Chief Minister of Manipur but also in charge of the Unified Command at the behest of the Union Home Minister, wants proof of involvement of Myanmar-based Kuki-Chin militants in the attacks on security forces in Moreh when both Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have acknowledged the involvement of external forces in fuelling the present conflict in Manipur, and National Investigation Agency (NIA), which he headed in an additional capacity as its director general while serving as the chief of CRPF for more than a year until retirement, is currently probing into a case related to transnational conspiracy by Myanmar and Bangladesh based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against the Government of India by exploiting the current ethnic unrest in Manipur, then we can all rest assured that he is not going to find or see any evidence ever.

For, the evidence he is waiting for more than eight months now can be found and seen only when he seeks and open his eyes.