A state that has been on the boil for 18 months and is ruled by a Chief Minister who leans towards one warring group and labels the other as “narco-terrorists” and illegal migrants but is allowed by an insensitive central government to continue to hold the reins of government, cannot be expected to reach any solution. The Kukis and Meiteis are both suffering. Lives have been lost on both sides of the divide and both communities have been displaced and lost their hearths and homes to arson. People from the hills of Manipur holding jobs in the Imphal valley cannot return to their stations and vice versa. Manipur should have in all fairness and going by the tenets of the Constitutions been brought under President’s Rule since at least two militant outfits belonging to the Meitei community namely the Arambai Tengol and Meetai Leepun have been running amok and allowed to loots weapons from the police armoury at the start of the violence on May 3, 2023. How was this even allowed to happen? How could a militant outfit summon the legislators from their community to direct them to hold on to a particular view – which is to reject the idea of a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo inhabited areas in the hills of Manipur. That has been the demand of the Kuki-Zo people since all development, including location of several institutions has been skewed in favour of Imphal which houses the majority Meitei community.
It is the bounden duty of the Central Government, more so when both are from the same ideological framework, to step in and curb internal disturbances that are not controlled within a few days. It is also the duty of the Central Government to prevent killings and bloodshed between people within a state and which the State Government has failed to control. Manipur is a clear example of a Constitutional breakdown yet the BJP-led Government at the Centre refuses to budge. The Prime Minister does not seem to care what happens to a state in the distant periphery which only matters during election season.
As per Article 356 of Indian Constitution, the President can proclaim President’s Rule in a state, if he/she is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of a State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Is this not the case with Manipur? Has governance not broken down completely? President’s Rule is meant to be a crisis management strategy to bring down violence and killings. President’s Rule empowers the Central government to intervene and take direct control of the State’s administration during times of political instability, law and order issues, or other crises that prevent the State government from functioning effectively. Why is this constitutional machinery not invoked? Merely adding boots on the ground, mainly central forces, when the command and control is not in the hands of the central government, is unlikely to end the Manipur crises because the uniformed personnel have no countervailing impact. But does the Modi Government care? Do lives in Manipur really matter?
