Imphal: Ten Kuki-Zo MLAs from Manipur on Sunday accused the Centre of lying in the Supreme Court about Chief Minister N Biren Singh meeting MLAs to resolve the situation and bring peace to the state, according to The Hindu.
The apex court on November 8 heard a petition filed by the outfit Kuki Organisation for Human Trust seeking a court-monitored probe into an audio clip claiming to be the chief minister taking credit for ‘how and why the conflict started’, which the police in August said was doctored.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is reported to have told the court during the hearing that Singh met all Kuki-Zo MLAs and peace was established at huge cost.
A joint statement issued on Sunday by the MLAs including those of the BJP said that they had not met Singh on May 3, 2023 when the ethnic conflict broke out.
Alongside they accused the chief minister of being the “mastermind behind the violence”.
The ethnic violence started in May 2023 has claimed at least 237 lives alongside displacing more than 59,000 persons.
The MLAs stated: ‘We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’,’, adding ‘In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.’
They ‘strongly' condemned of ‘the barbaric killing’ of a woman by suspected Meitei militants in Zairon Hmar village of the Jiribam district on Thursday.
It is reported that the apex court directed the Kuki Organisation for Human Trust to submit ‘materials proving the authenticity of the audio clips’.