Biren's Shamless Rebuttal Over The Hindu Editorial Shows His Incompetence, Lies and Lack of Knowledge

It is shameful and ridiculous that the Meiteis’ state government under the narcissistic leadership of N. Biren Singh has rebutted the Editorial write-up of one of the most trusted and credible English newspapers of the world, The Hindu, which published the true colour of his misgovernance in the small northeastern state.

The Editorial, “Lame Excuses: Biren continues to blame ethnic violence on ‘illegal immigration” rightly puts N. Biren Singh’s ill-perceived gameplan of scapegoating himself from the real issue of his pre-planned ethnic cleansing pogrom. It is absurd that the shameless and thick skinned dictator like N. Biren Singh and his political cohorts would dare to respond to the unstinted credibility of The Hindu newspaper. The Meiteis’ government must know that The Hindu newspaper is the main knowledge-bank of the people of India, particularly those aspiring for the coveted Civil Services Examination aspirants.

Obviously, N. Biren Singh is a pathological liar, spreading so much lies in his ill-endeavour to the throne of the Meiteis’ CM that if one documents all of his lies and put them together in one place, it would be called a “Liebrary” of the Meiteis. He can also be referred to as the “The Lie Lama” of Manipur.

It is true that ever since the ethnic violence between the Kuki community and the majority Meitei community last year, the ethnic majoritarian regime of N. Biren Singh erroneously labelled the Kukis as “illegal immigrants”, which has led to the stigmatisation of the refugees and policies that are in stark contrast to Mizoram’s humanitarian approach.

The Chief Minister has repeatedly maintained that the ongoing Manipur mayhem is a consequence of his government’s actions against “poppy cultivation” and “illegal immigration”. This is both an over-simplification and a biased view of the ethnic conflict that has raged the State because of the inability of the Biren Singh government to rise above the ethnic fray and build confident measures that could win the trust of the Kuki community.

The Meiteis’ Government rebuttal of The Hindu’s editorial on Friday lacked substance with an unfounded statement. The double-standard Biren Singh’s government talked about refugees as a result of civil unrest in the neighbouring country but remained mute spectators on the Meitei’s “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh and Myanmar since the last few decades.

The Meiteis’ government must note the following:

On the Question of Illegal Immigration:

The Chief Minister’s narrative on illegal immigration is a gross misrepresentation, laden with derogatory terms aimed at demonizing a specific community without  substantiated  data.  It  is  important to clarify that there are no illegal immigrants from Myanmar; instead, there are refugees escaping the junta’s aggression, primarily seeking refuge in Mizoram, not Manipur. Myanmar citizens enjoy visa free access to ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. If Myanmar citizens planned to migrate illegally, they would logically prefer these destinations over Manipur for better job opportunities and economic benefits. Contrary to Biren’s claims, Manipur does not host any refugees, thus no ‘illegal settlements’ exist as he alleged.

On the Question of Environment and Poppy Cultivation:

Biren Singh’s concerns about poppy cultivation and its environmental impact are disingenuous and aimed solely at targeting the Kuki people. Public data showed that while forest cover in the hills remain consistent, it has nearly vanished in the valley dominated by Meiteis. If environmental conservation is truly his concern, efforts should begin in the valley. The accusation against the Kukis of degrading the environment through jhumming or poppy cultivation is baseless and an evident diversion from the real issues. Moreover, there is no encroachment of forest land as the so-called Reserved or Protected Forest does not exist in Kukis’ ancestral land. The Kukis ancestral land existed even before the arrival of the British in India and as such any proclamation of Reserved or Protected Forests in Kukis’ ancestral land would rather translate into illegal occupation of tribal lands.

On the Question of Unnatural Villages:

The term “Unnatural Villages,” used by Biren Singh, highlighted his cultural insensitivity towards the Kuki traditions of establishing new villages for cultural and resource management purposes. These villages, a result of traditional practices like ‘Inchon’, are essential for managing resources and sustaining livelihoods in resource- constrained hill environments. Accusing these villages of being a result of illegal immigration is not only misleading but also demonstrated Biren Singh’s lack of understanding and respect for Kuki customs and traditions. Biren’s claim of 996 new villages have nothing to do with illegal immigration but the Kukis cultural and traditional practices of establishing new settlements in their own ancestral lands.

On Decadal Growth Rate:

Biren’s claim of decadal influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar into Manipur, particularly in the year 1988 and 1962, has no substance. The decadal official census data of the Government of India shows “no abnormal growth rate” of the Kukis. The fact is that the census of 1901 records the population of Manipur at 2,84,488. Of it, the Kuki population accounted for 41,262, which meant the tribe constituted 14.5% of the state’s total population in 1901. According to the 2011 census, the population of the Kukis stands at 4,48,214 persons as against the state’s total population of 28,55,794. In 110 years, the growth rate of the Kuki population is less than 2%.

On the number of People’s representatives:

Biren Singh’s government ridiculously and communally claimed that the Kuki MLAs increased from 6 to 10 in 1972 to present term. Here, an increase of Kuki MLAs do not necessarily mean the population increase of the Kukis. It is rather the ability of the Kukis whose candidatures are acceptable to all the voters irrespective of ethnicity, religions, caste or creed. There is no assembly constituency which is purely reserved for a particular ethnic community. Moreover, the assembly constituencies were set up as per the Delimitation Committee appointed by the Government of India without fear and favour. To compare the number of Kuki MLAs from 1972 to 2022 is an absurd and ridiculous, unbecoming of a statement to be made by none other than the State Government itself. It showed incompetencies on the part of the present regime in dealing with facts and figures.