Set the house in order in Manipur
N Biren Singh resigned as Manipur CM after 8 years amid ethnic violence and political turmoil, marking a chance for new leadership and healing.
N Biren Singh resigned as chief minister (CM) of Manipur on Sunday after occupying the office for eight years. Singh’s decision to resign was forced by the prospect of losing a trust vote in the legislative assembly and rising dissension within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party at a time when Manipur has been burning in the fire of ethnic violence for 21 months. In his resignation, Singh made no mention of the state slipping into virtual anarchy. At least 250 people have died, and thousands have been rendered homeless in the state. The ethnic fault lines in Manipur, a legacy issue, have widened and upset the delicate balance that existed between the Meitei majority of the Imphal Valley and the Kuki minority who reside in the hill districts. Singh’s resignation marks an important moment in Manipur, for it can facilitate the emergence of fresh leadership and start the much-delayed healing process in this deeply divided state.
Since the crisis in Manipur started in May 2023, following a judicial reference that the Meitei community may be considered for Scheduled Tribe status, Singh was perceived as favouring the majority community. As CM — Singh has been in office since the BJP first won Manipur in 2017 — he was expected to rise above the ethnic divide and act firmly against miscreants. But with Singh’s public statements, and administration’s actions, suggesting otherwise, the Kuki community — including BJP MLAs from the hill constituencies — doubted his commitment to constitutional values.
At the same time, reports and disturbing videos of rape, murder and arson as well as looting of police armouries by people from both sides suggested a total collapse of law and order. Civil militias such as Arambai Thenggol and its Kuki counterparts unleashed a climate of fear and violence and marked out territories. Moderate voices that could have helped to negotiate peace were forced to retreat into silence. Allegations about Singh’s role in the violence — six days ago, the Supreme Court ordered a forensic examination of leaked tapes that ostensibly implicate Singh — have only exacerbated tensions in the border state.
The immediate priority is to appoint a new CM, or a new interim setup under governor Ajay Bhalla, that will command the trust of all of Manipur. Singh’s resignation is an opportunity for New Delhi, which has faced censure for failing to arrest the decline in Imphal, to set the house in order. With the chaos in neighbouring Myanmar threatening to spill across the border, instability in Manipur must be avoided. This is a starting point.