Manipur police are “actively investigating” the “origins of a defamatory campaign” launched with the intention of “derailing the process of peace” in the strife-hit state.
The “defamatory campaign” involves the circulation of a “doctored” audio recording on social media platforms, “falsely claiming” that the voice in the audio clip was that of chief minister N. Biren Singh.
Dismissing the audio clip as doctored, a statement issued by the BJP-led state government on Wednesday night said: “This doctored audio is a malicious attempt by certain sections to incite communal violence or to derail the process of peace that has been initiated at multiple levels and that the Manipur police was actively investigating the matter and is committed to uncovering the origins of this defamatory campaign.”
The audio clip is in Meitei.
Along with the statement, the state has also shared screenshots of posts on social media platform X wherein X users, while sharing the audio clip by attributing the voice in the recording to be that of Singh, claimed the chief minister had “initiated’ the ongoing ethnic conflict against the Kuki-Zo community.
The conflict between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo communities started on May 3 and has now claimed 226 lives and displaced nearly 60,000.
The Manipur government statement also said its social media analysis “indicates” that a “coordinated and targeted campaign is underway, with numerous X accounts sharing the audio with similar captions” and has also enclosed “a screenshot that provides a snapshot of this orchestrated effort.”
Asserting legal action will be initiated against “all individuals and organisations involved in this conspiracy”, the state government urged the public to remain vigilant and refrain from “sharing” unverified information.
However, the Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) in a release on Wednesday said it was in “possession of a deeply disturbing audio recording in which Biren Singh, the chief minister of Manipur, is heard boasting in a closed-door meeting with his cliques”.
