With another day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament marred by disruptions over the Manipur issue, Manipur BJP MLA, and one of the party’s seniormost legislators in the state, R K Imo on Wednesday appealed to parliamentarians to allow the session to function “so that Manipur can be discussed”. “There was a recent delegation of the Opposition alliance that came here, hoping to bring peace. My only sincere request to all the parliamentarians across all political lines is to let Parliament function. We need to hear and discuss all the issues prevailing in the state. It is important for Parliament to be allowed to function. I am not saying this because I belong to a particular political party but because I happen to be Manipuri and we deserve to know what is happening, what is going to be discussed and the programmes that will be taken forward to ensure that there is peace in our state. Coming over here for photo-ops doesn’t make any sense,” Imo told The Indian Express. Saying that the state government expects Prime Minister to make a statement in Parliament, with the no-confidence motion set to be discussed on August 8, Imo, who is the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, said, “We already know that there is a no-confidence motion. I’m sure the Prime Minister will be speaking during the no-confidence motion. Let it function. Let it be discussed. Let the Home Minister come forward… we want the Central government to take a lot more proactive measures for the state of Manipur, the Home Minister coming to Parliament and stating the views of the Central government becomes important. Let the Home Minister speak. Let the Prime Minister speak on the day he has to. I’m sure if Parliament is allowed to function, then the PM will speak. It is his responsibility also to speak.” Imo said the Manipur Assembly would hold the Monsoon Session soon after the conclusion of Parliament. “We first want to understand what the stand of the Centre is and what actions will be taken. The Assembly session will happen right after the Parliament session concludes.” The BJP MLA said the clashes in Manipur were “not simply ethnic clashes’’ but far more complex given the state’s history of insurgency. “It is not just a mere ethnic conflict now, but it has gone beyond that. There are a lot more underlying issues which we need to know. The issue of illegal immigrants is one of the core issues that the state government is facing. The government of India has already initiated measures to identify them. I’m sure thousands and lakhs of people are here, and we need to identify them,” he said. On the directions of the Union Home Ministry, the Manipur government has already initiated a campaign to identify undocumented immigrants in the state through “biometric capture”. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued directions to the state government via a letter on May 29, directing it to complete the exercise of collecting biometric data of illegal immigrants by September 30. Superintendents of Police (SPs) in the state have commenced the identification of Myanmarese immigrants, starting with the Foreigners’ Detention Centre at Sajiwa jail in Imphal, which was completed this month with the assistance of a team of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) officials deputed by MHA. “The police teams will now begin the exercise in the interior regions of the state,” said sources. Pointing to Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups, Imo said, “How a three-month conflict is allowed to go on is a big question. Where are the arms and ammunition coming from? Who is supplying them? People with a huge amount of financial backing ensure that there is cross-border infiltration — not just people, but arms and ammunition as well. Otherwise, how can they fight central security forces for three months? It is not easy. We know that it has happened in the past in Kashmir, in Assam, in parts of the Northeast with insurgency-related activities. We think a lot more needs to be discussed. Central agencies have to look into it as well as the Home Ministry.” Imo said till the complete disarmament of the insurgent groups and “foreign militia” and the recovery of “arms looted from the state machinery’’ takes place, the initiation of political dialogue with stakeholders would not be possible. “My only appeal to parliamentarians is that Manipur deserves to be heard. Manipur deserves to be discussed. No one should let political issues damage that. Otherwise, in the course of history, the parliamentarians who are there right now will be remembered for not even thinking about the state of Manipur but about politics.”
