The ten Kuki-Zo MLAs from strife-hit Manipur turned up the heat on chief minister N. Biren Singh on Wednesday night by flagging the “Manipur tapes” and demanding of the Ajai Lamba-headed Commission of Inquiry probing the ethnic violence in the state to “expedite its process”.
They also demanded that Singh be “immediately barred” from the office of chief minister so that he can’t influence the “outcome” of the investigation.
The “Manipur Tapes” are audio clips, which are “claimed to be the recording of chief minister N Biren Singh” at a meeting he had participated in, according to a report in The Wire. A small part of the audio clips purportedly featuring Singh were also circulating on social media platforms before June 7.
As per the three-part report by The Wire on the audio tapes on Monday wherein the “purported maker/s of the 48-minute recording (said) that it was done in person at a meeting where the chief minister unmistakably indicated his partisan complicity in the ongoing violence.”
The Manipur government has, however, dismissed the audio clips as “doctored” on Monday night, asserting these were being circulated in “likelihood of inciting hatred and mistrust amongst communities” in the strife-hit state.
The ten Kuki-Zo MLAs MLA on Wednesday night said in a joint statement that they “took note of the “Manipur tapes” expose wherein the chief minister, Shri N. Biren Singh had candidly boasted about his role in the ethnic persecution of the tribal Kuki Zo community”.
“The complicity of the chief minister in the state sponsored ethnic cleansing, which we have always maintained since day one, has now been established beyond an iota of doubt,” they claimed in the statement, shared with The Telegraph by one of the MLAs.
“The tapes also reveal how the Union home minister had chastised him for authorizing the use of bombs on civilians, and how after the Union home minister had left, he had instructed the police top brass to use bombs clandestinely going forward, defying the Union home minister’s directions,” the joint statement claimed.
“These and many more self-incriminating statements can be clearly heard from the leaked tapes, which have been submitted to the Judicial Commission headed by Justice Lamba,” the statement said.
The ten MLAs demanded that “the commission must expedite its process and that Shri N. Biren Singh must be prosecuted for his crimes if his guilt is established.”
“Further, we once again appeal to the Government of India to expedite our demand for separate administration in the form of Union Territory with Legislature, as that alone is the path to lasting peace in the region,” the statement said.