Manipur CM N Biren Singh calls Kukis a terrorist group: KPA president Tongmang Haokip slams BJP govt

Manipur violence: Day after withdrawing support from the BJP-led Manipur government, Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) president Tongmang Haokip, targeted Chief Minister N Biren Singh, saying he is anti-Kukis on Monday.

“The situation now has changed because the present government is anti-Kuki people. Even the CM himself has openly denounced the Kukis as a terrorist group, narco-terrorists and outsider or foreigner and also poppy cultivators and drug smugglers and whatnot… In this situation, we have no way out other than withdrawing our support from the present government..,” Haokip said.

Earlier KPA on Sunday announced to withdraw support from N Biren Singh government in Manipur. Notably, the Kuki People’s Alliance has two MLAs in the Manipur Assembly.

The decision of the Kuki People’s Alliance to walk out of the ruling alliance comes at a crucial moment, coinciding with the government led by Biren Singh facing severe criticism for its failure to control the ongoing violence, resulting in the deaths of over 160 people.

KPA support withdrawn

Haokip wrote a letter to Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey informing her party’s decision to snap ties with the BJP-led government in Manipur.  He asserted in the letter the continued support for the incumbent government of Manipur led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh is no longer fructuous. Accordingly, the support of the KPA to the Government of Manipur is hereby withdrawn and can be considered null and void,” Haokip said in the letter.

In the 60-member House, the KPA has two MLAs – Kimneo Haokip Hangshing from Saikul and Chinlunthang from Singhat. The BJP has 32 members in the Manipur Assembly, while it has the support of five NPF MLAs and three independent legislators. The opposition legislators include seven from the NPP, five from Congress and six from JD(U).

Violence in Manipur

More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundred were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.

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