Imphal: The political heat in Manipur is escalating, with the Congress party launching a scathing attack on the Centre’s President’s Rule, alleging its utter failure to douse the flames of unrest plaguing the state. Keisham Meghachandra, the Manipur Congress president, minced no words in his condemnation, stating that the administration, put in place after Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s resignation, has demonstrably fallen short in reining in the volatile situation.
Meghachandra’s demands are clear and unequivocal: the immediate recall of Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who assumed office in January, and the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He lambasted the BJP’s much-touted “double-engine” government – a reference to its dual control at the Centre and in the state prior to President’s Rule – for what he termed a two-year-long dereliction of duty towards Manipur.
The state assembly, it may be recalled, has been in a state of suspended animation since February 13, the day President’s Rule was imposed following a fresh surge in the ethnic violence that has gripped the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. This tragic conflict has already claimed over 260 lives and rendered thousands homeless, a grim reminder of the deep-seated fissures.
Recent events have further fuelled public anger. A directive from security personnel at the Gwaltabi check post near Imphal, ordering Directorate of Information and Public Relations staff to obscure the name “Manipur” on a government bus transporting journalists, sparked widespread outrage. Demonstrators swiftly converged, demanding an apology from the governor, viewing the act as a direct insult to the state’s very identity.
In a powerful display of collective discontent, students and women’s groups formed a six-kilometre human chain near the governor’s residence, pressing their demands with renewed vigour. Reports indicate that Governor Bhalla, seemingly aware of the charged atmosphere, opted to avoid road travel from the airport, choosing instead the relative security of an Army helicopter.
For the Congress, the continued failure of President’s Rule is a stark testament to the urgent need for a decisive shift in leadership, one that can genuinely work towards bringing an elusive peace back to the troubled land of Manipur.
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