She had been at the helm as governor in the conflict period starting from May 2023 and, according to her, the “only solution to the violence is restoration of mutual trust among both communities and the central government should take steps to build that”.
Uikey alleged that there was an “international hand behind the conflict, which is why violence can’t be stopped despite the Centre’s efforts”. She also spoke about her own efforts to restore normalcy in Manipur and defended Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who is being seen as responsible for the continued state of unrest.
“Traditionally, Manipur has been a state of rich culture and art. It is a beautiful state but the recent (November) violence has disrupted the peace that was established. How it has unfolded, I don’t know, but I am deeply shocked to hear how a woman was killed and burnt. I appeal to all people in Manipur to build confidence and mutual trust for enduring peace,” she said, referring to the brutal killing of a Hmar woman on 7 November in the state’s Jiribam district.
A teacher and a mother of three, the woman was allegedly raped and burnt to death at her residence in Zairawn by unidentified armed persons.
Uikey had said this February that the violence in Manipur had resulted in more than 200 deaths and displaced 60,000 people since it first broke out on 3 May 2023.
In the latest flare-up, after the Zairawn incident, six Meitei women and children were allegedly abducted and killed in Jiribam. There have also been reports of attacks on houses and shops by armed men, and subsequent targeted attacks at a CRPF post and Borobekra police station. The toll in the latest wave of violence has reached 20, which includes casualties on both sides of the Kuki-Meitei conflict.
The current governor of Manipur is Lakshman Acharya, who also holds the post in Assam.
‘People of Manipur love PM’
The Opposition this week attacked the central government over the Manipur unrest. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, asking her to intervene, and slammed the PM for not visiting the state.
Uikey told ThePrint, “The people of Manipur love PM Modi as he has worked for the development of the entire Northeast. I have visited many places in the region and have seen the development under him. When the conflict started, many civil society organisations came to me to request that the PM visit the state.”
“I kept sending those requests to the PMO and I even asked these civil society members to send their request directly to the PMO to remind them. People of the state want him to visit but I don’t know why he hasn’t,” she further said, adding that “there may be other considerations behind this as the home ministry and PMO are monitoring the situation daily”.
Uikey’s words were echoed by Kharge in his letter Tuesday. “You may be aware that since May 2023, despite the demand of the people of Manipur, the Prime Minister has not visited the state. On the other hand, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha has been in Manipur thrice in the last 18 months and I, myself, have visited the state in this period. The refusal of the Prime Minister to visit Manipur is beyond anybody’s understanding.”
He added that people of the state had lost faith in the PM and CM to protect their lives and property.
Terming the Manipur conflict as “a tragedy of extraordinary” proportions, Kharge wrote that the Congress strongly believes that “the deliberate acts of omission and commission” by both central and state governments had resulted in “complete lawlessness, violations of human rights, compromise of national security and suppression of fundamental rights of citizens of our country”.
‘State was returning to normalcy when I left’
Speaking about her journey as governor of Manipur, Uikey, who hails from the BJP which is in power in both Manipur and at the Centre, said that when she had taken charge in February 2023, things were normal but disturbance started over the demand to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the non-tribal Meitei community. As of now, tribal groups including the Chin, Kuki, Zomi, Mizo, Hmar and Nagas enjoy ST status in Manipur.
The violence started after a Manipur High Court order in March that year suggested granting ST status to the Meiteis. “After the high court judgement was delivered, the Centre acted swiftly by sending the required central forces to deal with the situation. Not only the state government, the Centre too has been deeply involved in handling the situation,” Uikey said.
“The Centre deputed DGP-level and other officers who know Manipur and who have a track record in dealing with the situation there. As governor, I used to brief the Centre about the situation from time to time. To restore normalcy, I opened the doors of the Raj Bhavan and personally started to interact with women’s groups, visited camps and participated in social events to build confidence in society. When I left office, a certain level of normalcy had been restored and everything looked promising on the peace front,” she added.
Asked why peace could not be established despite the Centre’s heavy deployment of forces and the home minister (Amit Shah) personally looking into affairs, Uikey blamed “great distrust between the Meitei and Kuki communities in the wake of violence”.
“That trust which is broken can’t be restored despite the Centre’s efforts,” she said. “Last month, the central government called MLAs and leaders from both communities to Delhi to establish a framework for talks, but not much progress was made.”
“It looks like there is an international conspiracy behind the trouble in Manipur from the Myanmar front. I had visited the Myanmar border during my tenure and the Centre has started fencing work at the border to check infiltration. Besides that, the Centre has been making efforts to build trust among both communities. The priority should be to establish peace as early as possible,” she added.
‘Biren Singh did not get much time’
When Uikey was asked about the Opposition’s demand for Biren’s resignation for failing to restore normalcy in the state and charges that he was part of the problem, she defended the Manipur CM.
“Biren Singh did not get time to perform in Manipur as the state election happened in 2022 and within a year, the government got busy managing the ethnic violence. Since Manipur’s problem is too complicated and it’s not only a law-and-order issue, and since the Centre has all apparatus to handle the evolving situation, a blame game will not help anyone. As he (Biren Singh) is the head of government in the state, he will be held responsible, but things are more complex,” she said.
Uikey further asserted that as governor, she had always appealed to the Centre to resolve the crisis at the earliest as women and children in Manipur were being majorly affected, development had taken a hit and normal life had been impacted.
“When the 2023 incident happened, when a video (of Manipuri women being paraded naked) surfaced and lack of action from the police was reported, I asked the DGP of the state why action had not been taken and asked him to book the perpetrators immediately. I condemned the incident and it was condemned by the prime minister too. It was shocking and it was a difficult time. I told the DGP that such incidents should never happen again and rule of law should be established,” she told ThePrint.
Uikey, who previously served as governor of Chhattisgarh from 2019 to 2023, also said that when she was holding that post, “the Congress was in power in the state” but despite that, she strove for a “balance of power”.
“Minimum political differences should exist between the CM and governor and they must work without biases,” she remarked, adding that “in Manipur, the BJP has led the government but the situation has been turbulent”.
The fresh spate of violence in Manipur has attracted condemnation not only from the opposition but the RSS too. It has asked the central and the state governments to “sincerely” resolve the ongoing conflict at the earliest.
In a statement issued by its Manipur unit Sunday, the RSS said that “it is unfortunate that 19-month violence in Manipur, starting from May 3, 2023, has remained unresolved”.
“Due to the ongoing violence, innocent people have suffered immensely. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Manipur, strongly condemns inhuman, brutal and merciless acts of killing women and children after taking them in captivity. The act is cowardly and is against the principles of humanity and co-existence. The central and state government should sincerely resolve the ongoing conflict at the earliest,” it read.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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