Manipur: The N Biren Singh government of Manipur has submitted a list of demands to Governor Lakshman Acharya seeking, among others, the control of the Unified Command overseeing security operations in the state.
Currently, a team of Union Home Ministry officials, the state security adviser and the Army handle the command, according to NDTV.
It is reported that this move pointes at a potential tussle between the Centre and the state’s BJP government.
NDTV reported citing sources that Chief Minister Singh and all MLAs in their list of demands sought for ‘adequate powers and responsibilities to the elected State government as per the Constitution by handing over Unified Command.’
The list seeks to scrap the Suspension of Operations agreement between the government and Kuki insurgent groups thus enabling security forces to crack down hard.
Meanwhile, an all-party meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Singh in January this year, urged the Centre and the state government to remove the agreement in order for the security forces to conduct ‘full-scale operations against Kuki insurgents’.
The Chief Minister and the BJP legislators also demanded the Centre to protect the state’s territorial integrity, ‘completion of border fencing, a National Register of Citizens exercise and the deportation of all illegal migrants’, according to the report.