A retired lieutenant general from Manipur, L. Nishikanta Singh, has expressed dismay at the violence in his home state, calling it “stateless” and comparing the scale of anarchy to that witnessed in Syria, Libya and Nigeria.
The tweet by a person who once held the second highest rank in the army prompted messages of support from many veterans, including a former army chief, General V.P. Malik.
All of them urged the government to do more to defuse the crisis.
“I’m just an ordinary Indian from Manipur living a retired life. The state is now ‘stateless’,” Singh tweeted on Thursday.
“Life and property can be destroyed anytime by anyone just like in Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Syria etc. It appears Manipur has been left to stew in its own juice. Is anyone listening?”
In another tweet, he said: “Majority people of Manipur are looking over the shoulders for the Central Govt and its various agencies to stop the anarchy that has gripped us. This madness has to stop. How can a large part of our country be stateless?”
Responding to his tweet, Malik said on Friday: “An extraordinary sad call from a retired Lt Gen from Manipur. Law & order situation in Manipur needs urgent attention at highest level.”
Malik, who was army chief during the 1999 Kargil war, tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh.
A retired brigadier, Sandeep Thapar, responded to Singh saying: “This from a Manipuri & veteran soldier. If only Manipur had a few more parliament seats then ppl would have bothered. Nobody is bothered since it has only 2 (LS) & 1 (RS)!”
Air Vice Marshal (retd) Manmohan Bahadur said: “We need to hang our heads in shame. Is anyone listening?”
Sources in the army headquarters said the political leadership needed to reach out to all stakeholders in the state to bring the situation under control.
“What is needed is the sustained engagement among all stakeholders from the country’s top political leadership to stop this ongoing trail of death, destruction and displacement,” an army official said.
A former lieutenant general who didn’t wish to be quoted said the Prime Minister’s silence on the violence, raging since May 3, was “astonishing”.
“Being the Prime Minister, he should have taken the initiative, visited the state and appealed to people to maintain peace. It’s astonishing that he has not even tweeted anything so far,” the veteran told this newspaper.
“The BJP is in power both at the Centre and in Manipur. What we are witnessing in Manipur is a total collapse of political leadership and the Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas governance model.”
