‘Meitei saviour’ Biren appeals to Centre not to create separate administration

Guwahati: In the last 648 days since the Meitei-Kuki conflict broke out, Nongthombam Biren Singh as the chief minister of Manipur has emerged as the sole saviour of the Meitei community. Singh often described himself as the one who is trying to protect Manipur's integrity and the state's original inhabitants from infiltrators, particularly from Myanmar. On his exit on Sunday, he was no different.
In his resignation letter submitted to governor A K Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan, Singh made some fervent appeals to the Centre to continue the "implementation of various projects for safeguarding the interest of every single Manipuri".
He highlighted "the most important ones", which included maintaining the territorial integrity of Manipur — a state with a rich and diverse civilizational history of thousands of years. Singh in a way asked the Centre not to give in to the Kuki demand for an autonomous setup.
His second request was "to crack down on border infiltration and to formulate a policy for deportation of illegal immigrants".
In the last two years, Singh would often hold infiltrators from Myanmar responsible for the violence while saying there were no problem with the indigenous people.
Singh also requested the Centre "to continue the fight against drugs and narco-terrorism," a term the Meitei populace has been using since the beginning of the conflict to label the Kukis. In the last few years, Singh also emerged as a crusader against illegal poppy cultivation, which is also linked to Myanmar.
Hours before resigning, Singh congratulated security forces in Manipur and the forest department for destroying five acres of illicit poppy plants which could yield about 25 kg of opium at the G Monglian village hill range under Sangaikot in Churachandpur district.
Singh also asked the Centre "to continue the stringent and fool-proof revised mechanism of FMR (free movement regime) with the biometric data being stringently applied, and "a time-bound and faster border fencing which is underway".