The atmosphere in Manipur has become so bad in the last two years that even Chief Minister Biren Singh’s BJP government is now in danger. MPs, ministers and even CMs are not safe there. This is the reason why an allied party in the government has recently withdrawn its support. The Chief Minister is criticized everywhere for his failure to restore peace in the state. But when Congress leader and former Home Minister P. Chidambaram said this, there was an uproar in his own party. The Manipur Congress itself wrote a letter to party president Mallikarjun Kharge demanding action against Chidambaram. Along with this, Chidambaram was also asked to delete that tweet which was the root of the uproar. In fact, in Chidambaram’s tweet, along with Biren Singh’s dismissal, regional autonomy in Manipur was also written about, which became the real reason for the resentment. But what you have to think about is why the local Congress opposes autonomy. Is the Congress central leadership incapable of properly understanding the Manipur violence?
1- Why did Chidambaram have to delete the tweet?
Congress leader P. Chidambaram in his tweet had advocated regional autonomy within the state for various ethnic communities of Manipur. Chidambaram had said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that deploying 5,000 additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in Manipur is not a solution to the problem. He wrote that instead more understanding is needed, it must be accepted that Chief Minister N. Biren Singh is the root of this crisis and should be removed immediately. It is necessary that Meiteis, Kuki-Jo and Nagas can live in a state only if they obtain real regional autonomy. Along with this, it was also written that the Honorable Prime Minister should abandon his stubbornness, go to Manipur, talk politely to the people there and understand their pain, suffering and aspirations.
But this tweet backfired on Chidambaram. Ten Manipur Congress leaders, including a sitting MLA, a former minister and a former Manipur Congress president, wrote a letter to Kharge expressing their displeasure over Chidambaram’s position. In the letter he said that he held a meeting on this issue and unanimously condemned Chidambaram’s statement. The Congress local wrote that this post expresses completely inappropriate language and sentiments at this sensitive time in Manipur. The Congress Party has always been in favor of the unity and territorial integrity of Manipur. We request the AICC to immediately take appropriate action against P. Chidambaram and direct him to delete this post immediately. Manipur Congress chief K. Meghachandra had also commented under Chidambaram’s post to please delete it. The situation in Manipur is not good and it is a very sensitive matter. Former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh distanced the state unit from Chidambaram’s statement and said it was his personal opinion. Ibobi Singh wrote that as soon as we saw the tweet, we immediately informed Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge ji immediately spoke to Chidambaram and got this post removed.
2- Is Chidambaram the root of the Manipur crisis?
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has already been targeting Chidambaram. They allege that the roots of the Manipur crisis lie in the suspension of operations agreement signed by Chidambaram with the Zomi Revolutionary Army in 2008. CM Biren Singh reacted to Congress leader P. Chidambaram’s statement and again blamed the P. Chidambaram’s policies of violence in Manipur. CM Singh said that P. Chidambaram is a senior Congress leader and alleged that the current crisis is due to the Manipur CM. I want to say that during the time of the Congress we are facing difficulties due to the abandonment of the central leaders. N Biren Singh said: P Chidambaram is also the root cause of the current crisis. When he was home minister in the then Congress government and Okram Ibobi Singh was the CM (of Manipur), he had brought Thangliyanpau Guite, president of the Myanmar Zomi Revolutionary Army, to Manipur. This organization is banned in Myanmar.
3-What could be the reason for the discontent of the local Congress leaders?
In fact, Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh was also once in the Congress. Before joining the BJP, he was a Congress leader. What needs to be noted is that Biren Singh holds Chidambaram responsible for the Manipur crisis, but says nothing about the then Chief Minister Ibobi Singh. We should understand what could be the reason behind this. In reality, the whole game is about local politics. Before the BJP became active, the Congress was also a party of Hindus. Minority voters were forced to vote for Congress. He showed a picture of P. Chidambaram and Thangliyanpau holding hands. Biren Singh said that he never cared about the people of the northeast. The current crisis is caused by the problem of illegal immigrants from Myanmar. They try to dominate the natives of Manipur and the entire northeast. Whatever problem there is in Manipur, it has been created by the Congress. They cannot easily escape this.
In fact, infiltrators coming from abroad are the root of the problem in the entire Northeast. During the Congress governments, no measures were taken to stop these infiltrators; on the contrary, they were welcomed. Evidently, today the same infiltrators are causing violence in Manipur. If any Congress leader supports people who come from outside, then he will obviously become an enemy of the natives. That is why the local units of Congress do not go out to support the communities that come from outside. That is why local Congressmen were angry with Chidambaram’s statement on autonomy. Under the mantra of autonomy, communities coming from outside will also get the opportunity to establish their rights in Manipur. Perhaps the local congressmen do not want to stoke enmity with the natives.
