Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey said infiltrators from “across the border” may have fuelled the ongoing unrest in the northeastern State.
Manipur shares borders with Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland. But the Governor is believed to have meant the State’s border with Myanmar, which has been caught in a civil war since February 2021.
“It is clarified that statement of Hon’ble Governor was based on intelligence inputs indicating presence of certain inimical elements who could have infiltrated from across the border to fuel the current unrest in Manipur,” a Raj Bhavan statement issued on Friday read.
The clarification followed media reports saying the Governor, during a visit to a relief camp in the Imphal East district on Thursday, hinted at the involvement of external forces in the Manipur violence.
“Hon’ble Governor gives firm assurance to the people of Manipur that Security Forces are seized of this challenge and are undertaking joint operations on regular basis to eliminate any such threat,” the official statement read.
The statement is in line with the assertion of the Nongthombam Biren Singh-led government that people entering Manipur illegally from Myanmar and encroaching upon forestlands were responsible for the ethnic violence in the State.
Ethnic clashes between the majority Meitei community dominating the Imphal Valley and the Kuki tribal people inhabiting the hills have killed more than 130 people and displaced 60,000 since May 3.
Although Myanmar has a sizeable population of Meitei people, fingers have been pointed at the Chin people in Myanmar who are ethnically related to the Kukis. More than 40,000 Chin people have taken refuge in Manipur and Mizoram to escape a military crackdown in Myanmar.
