Even as the violent Meitei-Kuki conflict in Manipur is nowhere near resolution, the Union Home Ministry has ordered the withdrawal of 50 companies of CRPF and BSF troops who will now be deployed for election duties elsewhere across the country.
Nearly a year after violent clashes erupted in Manipur, over 200 persons died and more than 70,000 were reported injured in the inter-ethnic clashes which the administration of Chief Minister N Biren Singh failed to quell while the Armabai Tengol, a right-wing organisation of the dominant Meiteis, ran amok even as late as March 2024.
According to the April 8 MHA order accessed by Northeast News, 25 companies each of the BSF and the CRPF, the largest central paramilitary forces deployed in Manipur in early May 2023, will be pulled out of the state, including Churachandpur, Imphal (East and West) and Tengnoupal districts which were among the worst hit when violent clashes spilled over to assume deadly proportions.
Moreh in Tengnoupal, which on the borders with Myanmar, was particularly badly hit in the deadly clashes.
Small number of companies of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Shasastra Seema Bal (SSB) will also be withdrawn for election duties.
The MHA order, which is being kept a closely guarded secret, was shared with top state government officials and senior CRPF and BSF officers leaving them in a bind over what might ensue when the security vacuum occurs.
The MHA order comes a few weeks after the Election Commission announced the dates for the parliamentary elections which will be held between April 19 and June 4.
In Manipur, elections will be held for only two constituencies – Inner and Outer Manipur – on April 19 and 26.
While the BSF has a total deployment of 77 companies, including the additional forces that were rushed there after the Meitei-Kuki clashes erupted, the CRPF has a total strength of 100 companies.
Former CRPF Director General Kuldeep Singh was appointed security advisor to the Manipur government after the Meitei-Kuki clashes broke out even as the state police failed to bring the situation under control.
Top state government sources said while Singh was “peeved” with the MHA order, there was “little that he can do to prevent it from being carried out”.
Singh leads the inter-organisational task force that was set up to contain the spiraling violence. The deployment of central paramilitary forces in the worst hit areas, according to sources, has had a salutary effect on the law and order situation in the state, though the overall situation is far from peaceful.
