IMPHAL: There has been a growing demand for launching a probe into alleged role of Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh in the violence that wreaked mayhem in the state over the past one month.
Tribal bodies across Manipur have been demanding a probe into the allegations that Manipur CM Biren Singh abetted “radical Meitei groups” in carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Kuki-Zo tribes of the state.
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There are also demands that Biren Singh-led Manipur government be sacked and President’s Rule be imposed in the state immediately.
Amidst these growing demands against the under-fire Manipur chief minister, an old news item, relating to him, has started to go viral on social media.
The news item relates to the arrest of Biren Singh in the year 2000, when he was working as a journalist, for allegedly publishing a ‘seditious’ news article.
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In April 2000, Biren Singh’s press “Naharolg go Thoudang” was raided and charged with sedition for publishing news “supporting extremists”.
After his arrest and release later, Biren Singh quit journalism and jumped into politics.
Also read: Demand for probe into alleged role of Manipur CM in violence in state grows louder
He contested from the Heingang assembly constituency in Manipur on a Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party ticket in 2002.
However, he later joined the ruling Congress party.
In 2003, the then chief minister of Manipur – Okram Ibobi Singh made Biren Singh the minister of state of vigilance in the Congress government.
Biren Singh retained his assembly seat in the subsequent elections.
In 2016, Biren Singh revolted against Ibobi Singh and engineered a campaign for his ouster, following which, he was sacked by Ibobi Singh.
After his sacking, Biren Singh quit the Congress party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in October 2016.
After the 2017 assembly elections in Manipur, the BJP came to power in the state and Biren Singh became the chief minister.
BJP secured victory for a second time Manipur in 2022 and Biren Singh became the chief minister of the state for a second straight term.