Manipur burns while Delhi barricades: Shiv Sena(UBT) in 'Samaana'

MUMBAI — In an unsparing broadside against the Centre, the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Wednesday launched a scathing critique in the party's mouthpiece, 'Saamana', questioning the Centre's misplaced priorities amid ongoing 'bloodshed' in Manipur.

Highlighting a grim contrast, an editorial in Saamana condemned the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for deploying massive state machinery to turn the national capital into a "military cantonment" to crush peaceful political protests, while leaving the border state of Manipur to suffer under unrelenting ethnic violence.

The editorial painted a tragic picture of the ground reality in Manipur, pointing out that despite the presence of a "double-engine" government at both the Centre and state, peace remains distant. Over the past three years, the deep-seated clash between the Meitei, Kuki, and Naga communities -- originally triggered after legal stances were taken regarding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status -- has claimed more than 350 lives. The violence has seen a deadly resurgence. Over the last six months alone, 60 people have lost their lives, with at least 23 fatal attacks recorded over a recent 20-day span.

Highlighting the human cost, the editorial cited a recent incident in the Sunulok region where an armed group opened indiscriminate fire on 14 Meitei civilians collecting firewood in a forest, killing three instantly. Enraged citizens placed the body of a slain youth directly outside Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s residence in Imphal, protesting the administration's inability to secure citizens' lives.

"Thousands of displaced Manipuris continue to languish in overcrowded, substandard government relief camps, trapped in constant fear for their lives. Heavy security forces are deployed, yet armed groups clash at will with assault weapons. Sending security contingents is treated as the end of the government's duty, while grassroots trust-building remains entirely missing," noted the editorial.

The Thackeray camp claimed that to suppress anti-government demonstrations in New Delhi, the government mobilised sweeping security apparatuses, converting streets into militarised zones with barricades and heavy force to secure political stability in the national capital. Conversely, in Manipur’s hilly and forest regions, where armed outfits clash continuously, security measures have failed to halt daily acts of arson, killings, and terror.