Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:
The Manipur BJP has denied allegations by a Congress spokesperson and lawyer from the Meitei community of spreading rumours that he helped the Kuki tribes in pursuing a case, being heard in the Supreme Court, against former chief minister N Biren Singh.
The Congress spokesperson, N Bupenda Meitei, in a statement said he “asked the BJP and its cohorts to stop spreading such rumour and fake news against me and my party, the Congress.”
A Manipur BJP spokesperson on Friday told reporters in the state capital Imphal the party is not aware of the matter that Mr Meitei referred to, and they have nothing to do with it.
Posts on social media surfaced on Thursday alleging Mr Meitei helped a petitioner from the Kuki tribes in pursuing a case in the Supreme Court, which asked for an investigation to be launched against Biren Singh for allegedly admitting in a leaked audio tape – which the Kuki tribes obtained – that he was responsible for the outbreak of the Manipur ethnic clashes in May 2023.
With the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur sharply divided, the Congress spokesperson raised concerns over possible attacks on him and his property due to the “rumours” on social media. Mr Meitei lives with his family in the state capital Imphal.
“It’s extremely unfortunate to see the spread of rumour and false news dragging my name in a case which is not related with me. Neither the petitioner nor the respondent in the alleged audio tape case in the Supreme Court has engaged me as their advocate. I have neither signed in their vakalatnama nor met any of the petitioner or the respondent in the case,” Mr Meitei posted on X on Thursday.
After yesterday’s press conference at Congress Bhavan in Imphal on rumour and fake news linking my name and the Congress in an alleged audio tape case in Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, I have written to Manipur Governor @BhallaAjay26 ji @RajBhavManipur, the Chief Secretary and pic.twitter.com/zEFOwyKTsm
— Ningombam Bupenda Meitei (@BupendaMeitei) April 18, 2025
On Friday, he told Governor AK Bhalla – Manipur is under the President’s rule – that rumours and fake news can potentially lead to mob violence in an already turbulent state.
HS Benjamin Mate, chairman of the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHUR), the petitioner in the audio tape case, asked the Congress spokesperson to “extend” his “benevolence” at critics while he was still firefighting on social media due to the rumours.
“Pu Bupenda Meitei, please extend your benevolence and forgive them, for they are gripped by fear, anxiously thinking about the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on May 5th and its potential repercussions,” Mr Mate said in a post on X, alluding to the Congress’s repeated criticism of the BJP-led Centre and the state government over their handling of the Manipur crisis.
Pu @BupendaMeitei , please extend your benevolence and forgive them, for they are gripped by fear, anxiously thinking about the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on May 5th and its potential repercussions. pic.twitter.com/A85QIFsCQn
— H S Benjamin Mate (@BenjaminMate1) April 17, 2025
In the last hearing on Thursday, the Centre told the Supreme Court that the government forensic lab report on the audio tape was ready and will be submitted in a sealed cover soon. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre and the state, during the hearing told the Supreme Court that the petitioner had “ideological inclinations” and there was a report by a committee of three high court judges which said there were efforts to keep the “pot boiling” in Manipur.
In March 2019, Mr Mate’s name was recommended by the Zomi Reunification Organisation (ZRO) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) to the then national BJP chief Amit Shah for a ticket to contest one of the two Lok Sabha seats in Manipur, the Outer (reserved) seat. The ZRO also wrote separately backing Mr Mate for the Outer Manipur seat in the Lok Sabha.
The ZRO is the parent body of the militant group Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), and the KNO represents over a dozen Kuki militant groups.
READ | Manipur Militants Write To Amit Shah Backing BJP Lok Sabha Contender
While militant groups helping political parties behind the scene have been part of electoral politics in the northeast, it was for the first time that big militant groups openly wrote about backing candidates from mainstream parties.
The valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation. Over 260 have died in the violence and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced.
