The events of August thirty one and September one, twenty twenty six, have exposed the selective security approach of the Modi led BJP Centre Government. On August thirty one, a Kuki village was burnt down and three innocent civilians were killed, yet only a token force of Central security was sent. On September one, when a Naga village was burnt, a large contingent of Central forces was rushed immediately. Two villages burnt, two standards of justice.
This is shameful. It is a shame on the Government of India. In the eyes of the Constitution, Meitei, Kuki and Naga are all equal citizens of India. No government has the right to decide that the security of one community is more urgent than that of another. When protection becomes selective, it is no longer law and order, it is political discrimination.
The Constitution does not permit this selectivity. Article fourteen guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the laws. Article fifteen prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste or place of birth. Article twenty one guarantees life and personal liberty. When a Kuki village that has lost three lives gets less protection than a Naga village, all three Articles are violated in broad daylight.
The Centre has a constitutional duty under Article three fifty five to protect every State against internal disturbance and to ensure governance is carried on in accordance with the Constitution. This duty is enforced through the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, twenty twenty three for murder, arson and rioting, and through the SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, nineteen eighty nine for protection of tribal communities.
The law gives the same power to act everywhere. Under Section one twenty nine and one thirty of the BNSS, twenty twenty three, an Executive Magistrate can order an unlawful assembly to disperse and use Central forces. The power is the same in Imphal Valley, in Kuki Hills, and in Naga Hills. The question is not about legal power, but about political will.
This selective approach is seen as siding with Meitei and Naga communities while neglecting Kuki security. Such perception destroys the neutrality of Central forces. When people believe forces are not neutral guardians but community specific protectors, trust in the Indian state collapses and secularism and federalism are weakened.
This trust deficit has a long background. Manipur has been burning since May three, twenty twenty three. At least two hundred fifty eight people were killed till November twenty twenty four, while the Manipur Home Department admitted in an RTI in April twenty twenty six that two hundred seventeen people were killed and fifty eight thousand eight hundred twenty one displaced. Seven thousand eight hundred ninety four houses fully burnt, two thousand six hundred forty six partially damaged, nearly four hundred churches and one hundred thirty two temples destroyed. One hundred seventy four relief camps still exist.
While Meitei Kuki conflict continues, a new Kuki Naga conflict erupted from February twenty twenty six along the Kangpokpi Tamenglong corridor. Three Kuki villagers killed last week, four Naga villagers killed days before, thirty four deaths since February alone. The state is witnessing a second displacement while the first is still unresolved.
After three years of continuous killing, arson and total separation, one truth is now undeniable that Kuki, Naga and Meitei cannot live together under one administration anymore. The buffer zones, the separate relief camps, the complete breakdown of trust prove that coexistence under one Imphal government has failed. Villages have been divided, roads have been divided, hearts have been divided.
Therefore, the only practical, peaceful and constitutional solution left for India is to divide Manipur into three separate States or Union Territories as per Article three of the Constitution. A Meitei State or UT in the valley, a Kuki State or UT in the Kuki Hills, and a Naga State or UT in the Naga Hills. I demand that the Modi BJP Centre Government stop selective security, grant equal protection now, and start the political process for three separate administrations. That is the only way to ensure lasting peace, equal rights and equal justice.
