In a bold and defiant interview, where “people in power” are repeatedly accused of planning, funding and executing the conflict in Manipur, which, in turn, is said to have started with deliberate coordinated attacks by Meitei groups and their instigators on Kuki people, the highly regarded Director of the North Eastern Social Research Centre in Guwahati has said “the conflict was well-planned, funded and executed with precision by people in power”. Although Father Walter Fernandes repeatedly refused to identify who he meant by “people in power”, he, nonetheless, left little doubt he was referring to Biren Singh and the BJP in Manipur but, at least, on one occasion he also seemed to include the government in Delhi. Father Walter said it was “obvious” who he had in mind. When The Wire pointed out to Father Walter that he was specifically not denying he was pointing the finger at Biren Singh and the BJP in Manipur and, possibly, Amit Shah in Delhi, Father Walter kept quiet, thus clearly suggesting he was not denying it. When The Wire said to him he was saying the people who rule in Manipur and Delhi are responsible for the conflict in Manipur Father Walter replied “it comes to that”.

The first half of this 45-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire reveals aspects of the crisis in Manipur that we are not aware of and which clearly suggest that the origin and cause of the problem is possibly different to what we have so far understood. Father Walter wrote about this in an article for The Telegraph on the 25th of June but expanded, in considerably greater detail, in this interview.

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