Meghalaya CM Sangma’s appeal to Modi govt on Manipur — ‘balanced approach, consider all options’

Modi govt must weigh its options carefully, says NPP chief & BJP ally Conrad Sangma. Ex-dy CM Joykumar adds 'people of Manipur are angry as things only seem to worsen by the day'.

Guwahati: The Modi government should weigh “all options” under the Constitution to restore peace in Manipur, Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) president Conrad Sangma has said.  

Calling the Manipur situation a “humanitarian crisis” and “extremely complicated”, Sangma, whose NPP is an ally of Manipur’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under N. Biren Singh, told ThePrint, “As a party, we would want the Government of India to examine all possible options under constitutional provisions, because at the end of day, as a political party, we want peace and harmony to be there. People of Manipur are suffering, whichever community they belong to. We want things back to normal”. Manipur, which has been sporadically seeing violence since ethnic clashes first broke out between the non-tribal Meiteis and the ethnic Kuki-Zomis tribes on 3 May, saw tensions erupt Thursday at certain places in Imphal.

Sangma was scheduled to travel to the state capital Saturday, but officials have said that the  trip has been cancelled because of “unavoidable circumstances”.There are several factors behind the prevailing situation in Manipur, Sangma said, adding that the “Government of India will have to examine all options, and act accordingly”. 

“Every decision will have its own repercussions and its own impact,” he said. “Further, how you would handle the fallout of that particular decision is something that has to be seen holistically. It has to be done in a balanced manner.”Sangma’s statements come a day after N. Biren Singh, in a surprise move, offered to resign from his position over the escalating violence in the state, but eventually decided against it after hordes of protesters blocked his path to the Raj Bhavan.

The NPP had earlier this month voiced its disappointment at the state government’s handling of the situation. Yumnam Joykumar Singh, the party’s national vice-president and former deputy chief minister of Manipur, had told ThePrint that his party would be forced to reconsider its support to the Biren Singh government if the situation continued to escalate.  

NPP has seven seats in Manipur’s 60-member assembly. Even without its support, the BJP is comfortably placed in the House, having won 32 seats in last year’s assembly elections.  According to intelligence sources, the ethnic clashes that broke out in the state on 3 May have so far claimed more than 130 people and left several hundred wounded.