Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party had informally advised Naga People’s Front MP Lorho S Pfoze to not speak on the ethnic violence in Manipur during a no-confidence motion in Parliament, reported The Hindu.

The Naga People’s Front is one of the members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Pfoze is an MP from the Outer Manipur constituency, parts of which have been marred by the violence between the Kukis and the Meiteis. The BJP government in the state led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh has failed to curb the violence since it started on May 3.

At least 187 persons have died so far and 60,000 have been displaced. The state has also reported incidents of rape and murder and looting of state armouries despite heavy presence of state and central security forces.

Pfoze told The Hindu that he wanted to say that the violence should have been stopped, and that the government is serious about bringing back normalcy and peace. He also said that violence has largely been committed towards the Kuki-Zo community, who are his constituents, and even the Meiteis living in parts of three other districts that fall in his constituency.

“My friends from the alliance group, particularly from the BJP, they advised, they spoke to me and they said that honourable Home Minister Amit Shah will be speaking very much on Manipur and so it is advisable not to speak,” Pfoze told The Hindu.

He added that the only other Lok Sabha MP from Manipur, BJP’s RK Ranjan Singh, representing Inner Manipur, was also advised not to speak on the issue.

The MP said that he did not seek a formal permission from the Speaker to speak on the issue because he knew he would be denied the chance, he told the newspaper.

“In fact, because we are the people actually representing our people out there in Manipur, we should be asked to speak,” Pfoze said. “That would have built the confidence in my people because elections are coming and it is needful for our people to know that the government is serious about dealing with the issues confronting Manipur people.”

Pfoze’s statement comes after Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had switched off the microphone of Mizoram MP K Vanlalvena on Thursday when he sought to assert that it was wrong to call “tribal people in Manipur Myanmarese”.

Vanlalvena, the sole Rajya Sabha MP from Mizoram’s Mizo National Front, which is an ally of the BJP, was responding to a speech made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah a day before.

Shah had said that after the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, an organisation named the Kuki Democratic Front had begun to put up a fight against the military leadership. He claimed that the conflict in Myanmar led to many Kukis crossing over from Myanmar into Manipur for their safety. Shah had added that this influx led to anxieties among the majority Meitei population.

The minister’s speech in the Lok Sabha was also questioned by all 10 Kuki MLAs from Manipur, including eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

On Friday, the Kuki MLAs said that it was disheartening to see Shah claiming that the ethnic violence in Manipur was a result of the disturbance “caused by infiltration from Myanmar”. The MLAs alleged that the “ethnic cleansing” of the Kuki people is a pre-planned attack, aimed at grabbing tribal land against constitutional provisions.

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