Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh says why should I resign from the post. Whatever steps I took were for the security of the state. He said that I am not a thief that I have stolen something while being in the government. He claimed that people are with him in his efforts to ‘protect’ the state, so there is no question of his resignation. Singh asked in an interview, ‘Why should I resign? Have I stolen anything? Is there any allegation of scam against me? Have I worked against the nation or the state?’
N Biren Singh Singh is the target of the opposition over the ethnic violence that broke out in Manipur in May last year. Kuki organizations are accusing him of favoring the Meitei community in the ethnic violence. Despite this, he strongly defended his record as Chief Minister. Singh blamed his government’s campaign against drug and identification of illegal immigrants for the ethnic violence. He said, ‘I have saved the state from illegal immigrants, illegal cultivation of poppy. My job is to protect Manipur and the people of Manipur. There is no question (of resigning).’
According to the Chief Minister, the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in both the Lok Sabha seats of the state, including Meitei-dominated Inner Manipur, was an indicator of his popularity and not a sign of the party’s lack of popularity. He said that the security forces were acting on his instructions, despite this people accused him of not taking enough steps to stop the violence. Biren Singh said, ‘People got emotional that I could not do much despite being the Chief Minister. Despite the security forces acting as per my instructions, people felt that I did not take strict retaliatory action against those who used guns.’
The Chief Minister said that he has always believed that the solution will not come from retaliation but from dialogue and peace. So far 226 people have died and thousands of families have been displaced in the ethnic violence that broke out after the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised on May 3 last year in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status in Manipur. Kuki organisations have accused Singh, who hails from the Meitei community, of taking the side of his community in the violence. Opposition parties have demanded his resignation saying that this will help in reconnecting the broken social fabric.
‘I am the Chief Minister of everyone, not of any community’
On the allegations of favouring the people of the Meitei community, N. Biren Singh said, “I am the Chief Minister of every community. Be it Meitei, Kuki or Naga.” He said that in his second term, his government, apart from fighting against drugs, removed encroachments from reserved forests and intensified the campaign to identify illegal immigrants from Myanmar, which some people did not like. Although he did not say it directly, Meitei groups have alleged that a section of the Kuki community is involved in poppy cultivation in the hilly areas inhabited by them, besides protecting illegal immigrants who belong to their ethnic group.
