Ahead of his crucial speech in parliament, 40 Manipur MLAs submit deputation to PM, demand disarmament & implementation of NRC

Atleast 40 MLAs from Manipur legislative assembly submitted deputation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday evening, ahead of the his speech in Parliament on the ongoing Manipur crisis on Thursday.

The MLAs submitted the letter at his office, first, since the violence erupted on May 3 and has demanded implementation of NRC in Manipur. MLAs of BJP, NPP and NPF along with one independent MLA are the signatories in the letter. They have also demanded complete disarmament from both communities to usher in normalcy in the region. “For immediate establishment of security, simple deployment of forces is inadequate. Although it is imperative to halt the violence in the peripheral areas, a complete disarmament is the key to achieve this goal. The entire state requires a complete disarmament to foster an environment of peace and security. The confiscation of all weapons belonging to insurgent groups and Illegal armed foreign forces and those snatched

from the state machinery needs to be carried out. In this regard, the central security forces need to adopt a more proactive approach to ensure lasting peace in the region” read the letter to the deputation.

The list of MLAs which didn’t include representation from the hills have also prayed for withdrawal of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) Agreement with those covered under the agreement. Without specifying the name of any community, the deputation has hinted towards 25 insurgent groups, comprising of people from one community who are part of a tripartite SoO agreement between India government and government of Manipur.

The deputation submitted to PM office also demanded for early implementation of NRC. It stated “ to reassure the indigenous people of Manipur, the National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) can be lmplementecl In Manlpur, sooner rather than later. Biometric registrations of Immigrants have started and should be expanded and strengthened”

Opposition INDIA alliance bloc has been demanding for statement of PM Modi on the issue of Manipur crisis, he has spoken only once in the past 3 months since the violence began. The no-confidence debate is on in Parliament and on the 3rd day of its discussion, the Prime Minister is expected to speak on Thursday. This deputation from 40 Manipur MLAs came just ahead of that. Sources indicate Home Minister Amit Shah has been meeting representatives of communities in Delhi in order to engage in dialogue for peace. He spoke on the ongoing turmoil on Wednesday and assured the parliament that situation is improving and had slammed opposition for trying to “play politics over a sensitive issue”. The 40 member delegation has strongly demanded that Manipur shouldn’t be divided and “no separate administration” should be given to the hills, a demand that ITLF has been making after the violence broke out. Interestingly ITLF wasn’t a signatory to the letter given to PMO on Wednesday.​