GUWAHATI: N Biren Singh‘s attempts to project himself as the “saviour” of Manipur’s majority Meitei community throughout the 648 days of the ethnic conflict found an echo in his resignation letter as the chief minister on Sunday. He highlighted the state’s “territorial integrity” as one of the “most important” priorities, indirectly appealing to the Centre not to give in to the Kuki tribe‘s demand for an autonomous administration.
Biren said a state with a rich and diverse civilisational history spanning thousands of years deserved protection. Over the past two years, he would repeatedly hold infiltrators from Myanmar responsible for the violence, while maintaining that there would otherwise be no conflict involving Manipur’s indigenous population.
In his letter to the goveror, Biren requested the Union government to specifically “crack down on border infiltration and formulate a policy for deportation of illegal immigrants”.
Biren also mentioned the need to “continue the fight against drugs and narco-terrorism” linked to Myanmar.
Hours before resigning, he congratulated security forces in Manipur and the forest department for destroying five acres of illegal poppy cultivation that could potentially yield about 25 kg of opium. This was at G Monglian village hill range in Churachandpur district. Biren urged the Centre “to continue the stringent and fool-proof revised mechanism of FMR (free movement regime), with biometric data being stringently applied” and also “time-bound and faster” implementation of the border fencing project.