‘Prima Facie Conspiracy’ Viral Video Release Before Monsoon Session: Amit Shah

Home minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that the Supreme Court has been informed of seven cases involving ethnic violence in Manipur that have been given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). These cases include the May 4 mob assault on two women, which sparked outrage after a video of the incident went viral.

Briefing the media in details about the genesis of Kuki-Meitei conflict since the 1990s to the present situation in Manipur, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the videographer of the viral video involving hapless Kuki women has been arrested and the mobile from which he had taken the shots has been seized to unearth what prima facie appears to be a conspiracy to embarrass the Modi government on the eve of Monsoon session of Parliament. Due to the discovery that two additional viral movies being shared on social media to exacerbate the situation in Manipur originate from events in Myanmar in 2022, the police have filed a formal complaint against them.

Amit Shah’s reply

“Six cases have already been sent to CBI, and the seventh is on its way. We want, for the sake of impartiality, trials in these cases to be held outside the state of Manipur,” Shah said. Three other cases have been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the home minister said
The Union government submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court alerting it that the CBI had been given the case involving the viral video and requesting that the trial be moved outside of the state. Only the Supreme Court has the power to move trials from one state to another.

Ethnic conflicts

Since May 3, ethnic conflict in Manipur has resulted in at least 147 fatalities and 40,000 displacements, effectively dividing the state between the Meitei community, which makes up 53% of the state’s population and lives in the plains, and the Kuki tribe, which inhabits the state’s hill districts and accounts for 16% of the population.

Demand for PM’s statement 

The monsoon session has been deadlocked over the sexual assault, with the Opposition demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak inside Parliament on the Manipur violence, and the government insisting that it was ready for a debate and that Shah will respond on the floor of the House. The Opposition has also maintained that the state government has failed in restoring law-and-order, calling for the removal of chief minister N Biren Singh.

The PM was continuously being touch with the home ministry throughout, , spoke to Shah three times a day, said people aware of the developments.
“Neither the intelligence agencies nor him had any clue about the video of may 4” said Shah, the culprits will be dealt with the utmost strictness and actions would be taken against them,, and others accused in the 6,065 FIRs filed by the state police. Neither the army nor the police were present when the May 4 video was shot, he said.

Two FIR’s have been registered on the cases revolving around the viral videos that are being circulated on social media to fuel the fire in manipur case.
Shah said Indian security forces formed a buffer zone between the Meitei and Kuki communities with a unified command under security adviser Kuldiep Singh, who is handling the law-and-order situation on a day-to-day basis.
Shah stated that 82% of kids were back in school and 72% of state government employees have returned to their jobs thanks in part to direct intervention by the Center. Shah added that the law-and-order situation was substantially under control and he anticipated that calm would soon return to the state. The Union and state civil services exams were also recently held in the state.

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The home minister said that despite ethnic tensions prompted by the Manipur high court’s decision to grant the Meiteis scheduled tribal (ST) status, there had been no reports of communal violence in the state. Additionally, he stated that the government would relocate the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over ST status to Meiteis and that no action would be taken to bring the Armed Forces back there will be no move to bring back the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to new areas in Manipur.

Biometric data was taken of all the kukis who entered the state from Myamnar, and after the completion of the survey by December 2023, all names will be put in a “negative list” so that they cannot get Indian identity cards. Shah added to his statement.

In the 1990s when the Congress was in power at both the Centre and in the state four major ethnic clashes took place involving kukis in the 1990s when the Congress was in power at both the Centre and in the state
Shah visited with 41 organizations during his three days in the violent Manipur state, while junior minister Nityanand Rai traveled there from May 25 to June 17 to keep an eye on the unrest in Imphal, Churachandpur, Moreh, and Kangpokpi.

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Only Minister of State for Home Rajesh Pilot responded to Parliament during the turbulent 1990s in Manipur under the control of the Congress party, and he was only there for three and a half hours. When an MP once requested that the government hold a debate on the riots in Manipur in 2011, the then-prime minister Manmohan Singh left the chamber, according to Shah.
As the party had taken 14 days to send paramilitary soldiers to put down unrest, he said that the government was only accountable to the public and Parliament, not to the Congress.

He said that the government was only answerable to the public and Parliament, not to the Congress as the party had taken 14 days to send paramilitary personnel to quell violence in the state in 1993.
No restrictions would be imposed on anyone who wishes to travel to Manipur, and Rahul Gandhi the Congress Party leader was only stopped because the road security forces were unsure about the situation. Gandhi was taken by helicopter as he did not give an undertaking that he wanted to travel on road against the advice of the security forces, said Shah.

As the Opposition was not interested in any debate in Parliament, the minister claimed he was left with no choice except to communicate with the public through the media. He claimed that since the trains had already reached Manipur months before it was anticipated that they would, the cost of food, gasoline, and other necessities had decreased and was now on level with Delhi.
“Under the Congress rule, Manipur had blockades for 149 straight days during which gasoline cost 240 rupees per gallon and LPG cost 1,900. We won’t permit the conflict to extend to Manipur’s neighboring states, and we’ll deal with any insurgency or extremism with a heavy hand, according to Shah.