Dismiss Biren Singh government, Congress urges President

The Union government should dismiss the Biren Singh government in Manipur and impose President’s Rule in order to start the peace process under a neutral administration, the Congress said on Friday.

The Union government should dismiss the Biren Singh government in Manipur and impose President’s Rule in order to start the peace process under a neutral administration, the Congress said on Friday.

The principal Opposition party also objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in which he equated crimes against women in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh with the May 4 Manipur incident in which two women were paraded naked by a mob.

Referring to Mr. Modi’s statement on June 20 about being angry over the Manipur incident, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, “If you were angry then instead of making false equivalence with Congress-governed States, you could have first dismissed your Chief Minister of Manipur”.

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In a long Twitter post, Mr. Chidambaram, a former Home Minister, explained why the Chief Minister’s dismissal could be first step for different communities to reconcile their differences. He said the Meiteis, the Kukis and the Nagas have to live together under whatever legal arrangements are accepted by all.

“Each ethnic group has grievances against another group. Irrespective of who is right or wrong, eventually the three groups must talk to each order and arrive at a social and political compact,” Mr. Chidambaram said. ”To enable Meiteis and Kukis to stop the violence and talk to each other, there must be a neutral administration. That is why I have pleaded that a spell of President’s Rule is desirable,” he said.

The party also questioned the National Commission for Women (NCW) for not taking action against the Biren Singh government despite receiving a complaint about the incident on June 12. “No action was taken. And just yesterday [June 20] the Manipur CM admitted on television that this is just one instance and that more such barbarities have taken place,” tweeted Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.