Clamour grows for CM’s ouster; disquiet in BJP

New Delhi Clamour for the ouster of Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh mounted on Friday as questions swirled about his government’s lax response to the barbaric sexual assault of two women by a mob that stripped them and paraded them naked two months ago with disquiet about the Meitei strongman’s role growing even within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Singh position as the head of the state government has appeared increasingly untenable after a 30-second clip of the women being paraded and groped – a first information report (FIR) registered later said one of the women was gang-raped and her brother murdered for trying to intervene – went viral on Wednesday, triggering a nationwide outcry. Though police arrested four accused on Thursday, questions remained about why the police didn’t act earlier or reach out to the victims for two months after the first complaint was filed.

In Delhi and Imphal, calls rose for the removal of Singh – who belongs to the dominant Meitei community, one of the two groups locked in ethnic clashes that have claimed at least 150 lives – from the Opposition and even some party colleagues.

“Every section has lost confidence in Biren Singh. He was silent for seven days after May 3. He says that he came to know about the May 4 incident only when the video became viral. This government must go, Article 355 must be applied, consequently, President’s Rule should be imposed in Manipur,” said former Union minister P Chidambaram.

Raghav Chadha, a Rajya Sabha member from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also called for his resignation.

“What is happening today is horrendous, horrific, catastrophic, and of much greater magnitude than 2017,” he said. “The situation demands accountability and transparency from the double-engine government.”

Even within the BJP, leaders pointed out that the biggest problem was that the chief minister also held the home portfolio, which is responsible for enforcing law and order and resurrecting the collapsed administration in the state. Voices within the party said that there was no denying the fact that the two-term CM was seen as a leader of only the Meitei people and had lost the trust of the Kukis. When Union home minister Amit Shah visited the strife-torn state in June, Kuki groups refused to meet Singh, who didn’t travel to the hill districts.

“He will have to face action because he is identified with one community instead of with the entire state,’’ said a senior BJP leader on the condition of anonymity. “The fear is that if we do something now, like change the chief minister, it may exacerbate things. We don’t want to disturb the applecart when things are so delicate,” the leader added.

The BJP also doesn’t want to act under Opposition pressure but take a call at a time of its own choosing, said a second person in the party.

But some Kuki legislators from the party have already openly demanded the CM’s resignation. Ten of the 32 BJP legislators from the Kuki community issued a statement on Thursday night, saying they wanted a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into cases of sexual assault and murder of women in the state.

The chief minister appeared to have dug in his heels. “I don’t want to go into this. My job is to bring peace to the state. Miscreants are there in every society but we will not spare them,’’ he told reporters on Friday who asked him about the resignation demands.

A spokesperson for the CM also rejected allegations of partisanship, saying Kuki legislators were influenced by militant groups to oppose him. “As far as the CM is concerned, he hasn’t gone to any Kuki dominated areas but is constantly monitoring the situation in these areas through the state government machinery,’’ added the spokesperson.

The list of charges levelled by some civil society groups and opposition parties at Singh is long – the CM is accused of doing little to quell tensions when the clashes first broke out on May 3, then acting in a partisan manner and not reaching out to the Kuki community, not enforcing law and order strictly once the violence flared up again after a brief lull, and not pushing to bridge the trust deficit and rebuild the state administration.

Pressure has been mounting on the CM for some time now. On June 30, he appeared on the verge of quitting and even typed up a letter of resignation but later changed his mind. He began the process of resigning, before protesters who gathered outside his Imphal home ostensibly prevented him from proceeding to the governor’s residence 200 metres away, following which he “clarified” he would not demit office. The dramatic scenes outside Singh’s bungalow saw thousands of Meitei women gathering from the morning as rumours swirled; they raised slogans hailing him; and they tore a sheet of paper that contained his resignation, which was brought out and read by Singh’s cabinet colleague.

The next day, he courted more controversy when a series of tweets from his official Twitter handle hit out at social media users demanding his resignation. The tweets, which were later deleted, incensed the Opposition and tribal groups as they accused the chief minister of invoking the already inflamed ethnic fault lines in the violence-hit state.

“We have no recourse in the state government, which not only sides with the majority community but is itself the perpetrator of the violence. This is why we have repeatedly called for the imposition of President’s Rule so that the state can be administered without bias and security forces will have a free hand in stopping the violence,” said Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a conglomerate of recognised tribes in outer Manipur’s Lamka, in a statement.

The United Naga Council said, “We can never allow the perpetrators involved in such a heinous crime to go scot-free. The government must initiate steps necessary to immediately book all the people involved in such a dehumanising crime and should ensure a trial in a fast-track court to deliver justice instantly.’’