Bimol accuses Centre of scheming communal division
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, July 01 2025: Inner Manipur MP Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam has alleged that so called "buffer zones" have emerged across Manipur despite official denials, and that these zones are reinforcing dangerous communal divisions on the ground.

Speaking to the media at his Keishamthong residence, Dr Bimol noted that while the central government continues to claim there are no buffer zones, the situation on the ground paints a very different picture.

"There is an unstated, communally-based division in Manipur, and it manifests in this very troublesome concept of a buffer zone," he said.

"Officially, the government says there is no such thing, but in practice, a de facto buffer zone seems to exist" .

The MP accused the central government of surreptitiously abetting communal divisions by allowing such practices to continue.

He cited the violent clash in Leitanpokpi on June 16, when farmers attempting to work on their land were confronted, and the shooting of a farmer in Phubala on June 20, as signs of ongoing insecurity and communal tension.

Dr Bimol also pointed to his own recent experience when he was prevented from visiting Phougakchao Ikhai, a village in his own constituency, on Monday.

The first-time parliamentarian said that he had only requested to visit a location approximately 300 metres away from where he stood, which is within Bishnupur district and well inside his parliamentary constituency.

However, he was stopped by security personnel.

"When 1 spoke to the SP, he described it as a 'peripheral area' .

I told him this is not the periphery, this is the buffer," MP Bimol said.

"What is peripheral about a place that's just 300 metres away? I wasn't asking to go deep into a conflict zone," he added.

He questioned the state and central governments' claim of recovering looted weapons and sanitising conflict-hit areas.

"If that area is deemed unsafe, then what does it say about the government's claims? How do we explain farmers being shot or an MP being stopped from entering a supposedly secure area?" he posed.

According to Dr Bimol, this continued restriction not only undermines public confidence in the state's control over the situation, but also implicitly justifies a form of communal separation.

"It suggests the area is not truly secure and that arms have not been fully recovered.

On the other hand, you are implicitly justifying this communal division," he said.

He warned that such divisions are not about safety alone but reflect a deeper, more troubling split that contradicts the ideals of the Constitution.

"People should oppose such division and remove the psychological acceptance in their mind," he said.

Dr Bimol also responded to criticism from certain quarters questioning his motive to visit Phougakchao Ikhai, with some claiming the area lies within Churachandpur district.

He clarified that the location is part of Bishnupur district and falls well within his parliamentary constituency.

"There is no need to politicise this matter.

The public should raise their voices and ask why these restrictions exist," he said.

The MP affirmed that he will approach the authorities concerned again and plans to revisit the area.

"It is the duty of the authorities to provide adequate security.

I am carrying out my responsibilities as an MP," he added.

MP Bimol was prevented by central forces from visiting a village located in the periphery of Imphal Valley, following which he accused the state of "establishing and nurturing an imaginary and unconstitutional line, the so-called 'buffer zone', in support of communal forces" .

The Congress MP said he wanted to visit Phougakchou Ikhai, a peripheral area along the border of Meetei-dominated Bishnupur district and Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, on Sunday as it falls under his constituency.

"I, an elected Member of Lok Sabha, was stopped from visiting Phougakchou-Ikhai Makha Leikai Keithel (Bazar) in Bishnupur district, which falls within my parliamentary constituency (Inner Manipur) today, despite the heavy presence of security forces, including the Indian Army, in the area guarding the place," the MP said in a late night post on X .

"Tellingly, civilians belonging to other communities (such as Pangals) are allowed to travel through the same place right in front of me, a Member of Parliament of the largest democracy in the world!" he added.

"It speaks of the clandestine ways through which the state has been nurturing a communally founded division of Manipur, and drawing up and enforcing an imaginary and unconstitutional line, the so-called 'buffer zone', in support of communal forces in the state," the Congress MP had said, adding that honest and determined efforts will solve the issue, not lies and a cynical approach.

Phougakchao Ikhai, which was one of the first areas in Manipur to have been affected by ethnic violence which broke out on May 3, 2023, is now heavily guarded by security forces.

Residents of the locality had fled after a violent mob coming from Churachandpur district vandalised and torched several houses in nearby Torbung on May 3, 2023 .

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