Guwahati, Feb 16: The Delhi Meetei Co-Ordinating Committee (DMCC) has strongly condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- led central government, accusing it of deliberately destabilizing Manipur through the imposition of President’s Rule and the selective enforcement of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
The DMCC has called for the immediate withdrawal of President’s Rule and the removal of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his alleged failure to restore peace in the state.
An emergency online meeting of the DMCC was held just hours before President’s Rule was imposed on February 12 at 3 pm. A subsequent consultative meeting on February 15 brought together prominent intellectuals, including senior advocates, academicians, human rights activists, and retired government officials. The discussions highlighted the BJP’s alleged political maneuvering to render Manipur leaderless, setting the stage for direct Central intervention.
DMCC convenor Dr. Seram Rojesh accused the BJP of orchestrating a calculated political strategy. “After forcing Chief Minister N. Biren Singh to resign, the so-called consultation meetings led by BJP’s Northeast in-charge, Sambit Patra, were nothing more than a political charade. “The BJP pretended that internal rifts among Meetei BJP leaders delayed the appointment of a new CM, while in reality, the decision to impose President’s Rule was already made by the Central leadership,” Rojesh said in a statement on Sunday.
Rojesh further alleged that since the outbreak of violence on May 3, 2023, the BJP-led Central government has willfully ignored Manipur’s worsening crisis. “The Prime Minister and the Home Minister have failed to take any decisive action. Even a bureaucrat-led meeting in October 2024 was a mere formality, reinforcing the BJP’s deliberate inaction,” he said.
The DMCC also accused the Centre of systematically weakening Manipur’s governance, pointing to the appointment of former Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla as the state’s Governor in December 2024. “Bhalla played a pivotal role in bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. His appointment in Manipur signals a similar strategy—pushing the state towards division,” Rojesh stated.
The committee further criticized the Centre’s alleged bias, claiming that the removal of Biren Singh and the imposition of President’s Rule aligned with the long-standing demands of Chin-Kuki groups, whom they accused of being protected by the central government under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement.
“The BJP government has cracked down on Meeteis while sheltering Kuki militants under SoO. The Assam Rifles and other security forces have allowed Kuki armed groups to attack police stations, government institutions, and security personnel with impunity,” Rojesh alleged.
He further argued that the re-imposition of AFSPA in November 2024, following the abduction of six women and children in Jiribam, was another example of the Centre’s selective enforcement of laws. “Instead of taking action against Kuki militants, the government expanded AFSPA to Meetei villages. The combination of President’s Rule and AFSPA has effectively turned Manipur into a military state,” he said.
The DMCC claimed that this was not the first time the BJP had attempted to destabilize Manipur. “In 2001, the BJP-led government imposed President’s Rule, leading to mass protests, the burning of the state assembly, and the deaths of 18 Meeteis at the hands of security forces,” it said.
Following its consultative meeting on February 15, the DMCC passed several resolutions, including immediate withdrawal of President’s Rule and restoration of democratic governance in Manipur, declaration of all Kuki militant groups under the SoO agreement as unlawful organizations, followed by a full-scale crackdown, abolition of the Centre’s alleged flawed Burma policy, which it claims supports Kuki militants, repeal of AFSPA and an end to the military rule imposed by the BJP government, direct intervention by the Prime Minister to restore peace in Manipur and facilitate dialogue between Meetei and Kuki communities and mmediate removal of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his failure to address the crisis.
“The restoration of public confidence between Meeteis and Kukis is the need of the hour, not military rule. The Prime Minister must take full responsibility for resolving the crisis and remove the Home Minister, who has failed in his duty to bring peace,” the DMCC added.
