N Biren Singh’s Follies, Foibles, and Triumph: KIM

Ukhrul, Jan 3: In a scathing attack against Manipur’s Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has listed his follies, foibles, and triumphs.

The KIM alleged that violence against the Kuki-Zo people in Imphal on 3rd May 2023 where Churches and houses were vandalized, looted, and burnt; women raped and killed, daily wage earners in Meitei localities lynched, and hapless passers-by bludgeoned to death on the main roads were fuelled by the condescension, intimidation, and the ethnocentric-concept of the Manipur state.

The body cited the demographic and geographical segregation following the exodus of Kuki Zo and Meitei communities – the former to the hill, the latter to the valley, as its outcome. It also alleged that the status quo was reinforced by emotional and psychological separation owing to continued offensives from the radical Meitei groups, and persisting state-sponsored hegemonistic exercise for the last eighteen months. All this is daylight robbery, which the state media fails to hide, it said.

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FOLLY:

KIM accused N Biren Singh of neither preventing violence nor its escalation. The state forces led the Meitei radicals in the rampant attacks on Kuki-Zo settlements in the valley and bordering villages in the subsequent days, it alleged. Hence, the infamous statement: State-sponsored genocide, it said.

Stating the Suspension of Operation (SoO) as the path to dialogue and peace, the Kukis’ apex body pointed out that the Union Home Minister appointed Advisor Northeast to engage in a tripartite dialogue with SoO signed groups including the KNO and UPF, and the Government of Manipur to find an amicable settlement within the Constitutional framework. Based on alleged ground rules violations, in January 2024 N. Biren Singh and the state Cabinet abrogated the tripartite SoO agreement signed for peace and political dialogue.  “As head of state, he forgets that permitting security force to attack the Kuki-Zo settlements is a gross violation of SoO ground rules, not to mention the abject violation of the institution of the state and Constitutional norms,” it added.

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FOIBLES:

Presumably, at the Union Home Minister’s (UHM) behest, Biren Singh attempted to make peace with the Kuki-Zo MLAs, but failed to tell the truth that he spoke only to one or two, not all ten, KIM said adding that the Peace Mission failed miserably.

Another foible is the buffer zone and Saibol village. The KIM informed that following the onset of the conflict, the Union Home Ministry established the “Buffer zones” between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei-dominated areas to maintain peace or “the absence of violence”, however, contrary to the deliberations, Biren Singh ordered IG CRPF and DGP for troops to be deployed at Saibol village on 27^th December 2025 despite the villagers’ protest who had been facing relentless attack from Meiteis since 24th December. If the intent was to maintain peace, the orderly thing to do was contain the perpetrators in the buffer zone, it said.

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TRIUMPH:

The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) accused Biren Singh of rallying like-minded ethnocentric Meitei radicals against Kuki Zo for which he successfully received an endorsement to remain the head of state. In a fit of remorse, it said, Biren Singh announced regret on New Year’s Day for the CRPF and BSF’s brutal action against Kuki Zo women protesters at Saibol on the last day of 2024. To be seen as sincere and fair, he must immediately withdraw the precipitating deployment from Saibol village and beef up the buffer zone for the safety of the Kuki and Meitei communities, it demanded.

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