Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move a statutory resolution in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday night on imposing President's rule in Manipur, a state mired in ethnic violence.
Earlier during the day, at 2:40 AM, the Lok Sabha cleared the resolution by voice vote after a 40-minute debate. Eight opposition members expressed their reservations during the debate, and Shah presented his reply.
Opposition leaders raised questions over the timing of the debate, which began at 2 AM after a tiring 14-hour-long debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
In his address to the Lok Sabha, Shah said that the government has been making efforts to bring Kuki and Meitei groups together. "A joint meeting will be held shortly. The top priority is to bring peace back. The situation is mainly in hand—during the last four months, only two people have been hurt, and no new cases of violence have taken place. But we cannot think this fully satisfactory as long as internally displaced persons are still in relief camps," he said.
For the past two years, the government’s efforts to bring representatives of both communities to the negotiating table have yielded little success. On October 15, when the Union Home Ministry convened a meeting, Kuki-Zo assembly members attended but refused to sit in the same room as their Meitei counterparts. Shah would not provide additional information on how the government intends to close the gap, but sources said a meeting between Kuki-Zo delegates and ministry officials is to be held in New Delhi on April 5.
Hostilities remain between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, almost 23 months since ethnic clashes broke out. Security personnel still keep buffer zones between Meitei-dominated valleys and hills inhabited by Kuki-Zo tribals to keep clashes at bay. Violence flared on March 8 as a civilian was killed and some others injured when Kuki-Zo residents in Kangpokpi district protested the movement of an interstate bus from Imphal under heavy security.
Kuki-Zo bodies have reaffirmed their opposition to inter-state travel and continue firm in their assertion for separate administration, which they plan to draw attention to on Saturday when they hold their meeting.
Since the Manipur assembly is under suspended animation, there is still the possibility of political maneuvering. A party attaining a majority may try and form a government later on.
Chief Minister Biren Singh resigned in the face of growing rebellion and the threat of a no-confidence motion. It was reported that 10 to 12 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators were poised to switch sides during the planned assembly session on February 10. Moreover, 10 Kuki-Zo BJP MLAs had already cut their links with Singh after the eruption of ethnic violence and called for his resignation.
Following his resignation, Singh was requested to remain a caretaker chief minister for four days. BJP leaders, meanwhile, negotiated with lawmakers who were against Singh, but their efforts to garner sufficient support to form a new government without him failed.
Read also| Waqf Bill will benefit Muslims, Oppn misleading public, Says Shahabuddin Razvi
Read also| Christian Preacher Bajinder Singh Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in 2018 Rape Case
