Imphal: The Manipur government on Friday reacted strongly to the claims of The Hindu that the Biren Singh-led government had a biased view on the present ethnic conflict in the state. It argued that the national media house should come to Manipur and report on the available data and records instead of being a propaganda machine.
Unleashing a scathing attack on the current violent ethnic clashes in Manipur, The Hindu, in its editorial, claimed that the Chief Minister has repeatedly maintained the conflict is a consequence of his government’s actions against “poppy cultivation” and “illegal immigrants”, which is both over-simplification and a biased view.
The Chennai-based national daily even suggested that unless there is a change …in leadership in Manipur and the way it has treated the conflict, the situation will continue to fester.
A statement issued by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the state government said that the editorial of The Hindu, “Lame excuses: On Manipur and the ethnic conflict”, was an attempt to defame the measures undertaken by the Central and State governments to resolve the unrest in the state.
Since the Hindu does not have any clear understanding of the deeper issues in Manipur, it has cited Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s statement that 5,457 illegal immigrants were found in Manipur’s Kamjong district as a claim to back up its allegations. However, the fresh arrival of illegal immigrants into Manipur, following the military coup in Myanmar is just the tip of the iceberg, it added.
It further noted that even before the state government began its drive to identify and collect the biometric data of the immigrants, as many as 996 new villages had already mushroomed in Manipur as a result of years of illegal immigration which went unchecked and undetected.
The release said the measures to identify the illegal immigrants and collect their biometric data were started only in February last year after forming a Cabinet Sub Committee. The committee was headed by Minister Letpao Haokip, who himself was a Kuki Tribe. This Committee also had Minister Awangbow Newmai, a Naga MLA and Minister Th Basanta, a Meitei. During the identification drive carried out by the Sub-Committee, 2,187 illegal immigrants were found settling at 41 locations in Manipur, it continued.
It was during this identification exercise, that the illegal immigrants strongly objected to the proposal of shelter homes from them. It was one of the reasons for the violence that broke out in Manipur, it reasoned.
Decades earlier, there was a massive influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar into Manipur, particularly in the years 1988 and 1962. No measures were undertaken to collect their biometric data or identities. They were freely allowed to continuously encroach and settle upon the Protected Forest areas of Manipur. The Hindu, however, chose to ignore the demographic changes taking place by the influx of immigrants and the adverse outcomes which have been taking place for years even before the measure for identification was launched, it continued.
Rejecting strongly to the editorial which accused the State government of being biased against a particular ethnic group, which is far from the truth and quite misleading, the release further stated that the identification of illegal immigrants is not limited to only one community. The state, however, has a firm stand on illegal migration, and it has been monitoring the issue as per the directives and instructions of the Central government, it added.
It recalled that in 1972 there were only six Kuki MLAs while the Nagas had 13 MLAs. Now the numbers are the same at 10 MLAs each, the release said, adding that The Hindu ignored the issues concerning the loss of forest cover in the state.
On the claims that refugees in Manipur are stigmatised and the state’s policies are contrary to the approach given by neighbouring Mizoram, the government said that those immigrants are provided with basic needs like foodgrains, water supply, power supply, even roofing and other essential commodities in their respective camps such as the ones in Kamjong district of Manipur.
It said the deportation of illegal immigrants is being carried out by the district administration on both sides of the border, and only after they have chosen to return to their respective villages after normalcy returned in particular areas. The state government had also announced that the further deportation would be resumed only after normalcy returns, it pointed out.
So far, around 16,161 acres of poppy cultivation in the Kuki-Zo-dominated areas in the districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi were destroyed under the War on Drugs campaign of the government.
Drugs amounting to over Rs. 78 thousands crore have been seized and a total of 2351 cases have been registered while as many as 2943 people have been arrested since 2017. The Hindu has also ignored the sudden spike in seizure of the staggering amounts of drugs trafficked from Myanmar in Mizoram since 2023, following the unrest in Manipur. The Hindu once used to be a respected media firm but now it has murdered all ethical journalism and standards, it charged.
