Imphal: Suspecting a ‘secret hidden agenda’ in the present Manipur sectarian crisis, former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh asserted Thursday that both the centre and Manipur government are watching the continued violence in the state as drama.
The veteran Congress leader said if both the central and state governments genuinely wanted to solve the crisis, they could have done so immediately and saved those precious lives and properties. The ‘double-engine’ governments have all the resources and machinery, including intelligence, vigilance, central paramilitary forces, and manpower, but the manner in which the government was handling the situation appeared to have a ‘secret hidden agenda’, Ibobi said.
Stating that violence involving targeted killing and arson continued unabated in different parts of the state, the three-time chief minister said that despite employing so many central and state security forces, fear and trauma of violence still lingered among the people, especially those in the peripheral and foothills of the state.
Ibobi even wondered what the actual role of the ‘special security advisor’ and questioned whether he had actually applied the feedback given by different security agencies while deploying securities in sensitive locations. The former chief minister also regretted that the state government should have appointed someone as ‘special security advisor’ who had more knowledge or had been posted in the state earlier.
Ibobi also advised the chief minister to call for an all-party delegation to the centre to defuse the crisis as soon as possible.
