These are indeed interesting times while at the same time quite troubling and ominous. On the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced a ‘roadmap’ for ushering peace in Manipur, a secret missive from CM office to security advisor about the entry of 900 highly trained Kuki Chin rebels in Manipur from across the border in Myanmar surfaced on social media and it became viral although its authenticity was questioned by many. Everyone knew of the rift between the two which started when the chief minister was stripped of the leadership of the Unified Command and given to the security advisor.
The leaked communication mentioned that over 900 Kuki militants, newly trained in the use of drone-based bombs, projectiles, missiles, and jungle warfare, have entered Manipur from Myanmar. It stated that these militants are reportedly grouped in units of 30 members each, scattered across the periphery, and are expected to launch multiple coordinated attacks on Meitei villages around September 28. The input was quite startling, given the precise details of the training module of the militants and even the precise date of attacks including the number of teams.
Naturally, questions on the veracity of the intel input and credibility of the source are bound to come up. There are always analysts to review or reassess intelligence inputs and ‘credibility’ of the source is an important factor. Well, intelligence inputs are supposed to be top secret and confidential which needs to go through a vetting process of reassessment and review, before it is acted upon. If such inputs come out in the public domain without any cross-check, it may lead to dangerous consequences. Who knows, the said informant or source might have planted the ‘intel input’ to provoke such a response. Or maybe, it was orchestrated for altogether a different purpose.
One must also consider the timing of the supposed leak. Just that day, Amit Shah had announced that a roadmap has been created to address the issues in Manipur while assuring that talks are being held with both Kuki and Meitei groups. He said that the government has initiated the fencing of the India-Myanmar border to address the root cause of the problem.
Approximately 30 km of the fencing has been completed, and the central government has approved a budget to fence the entire 1500 km border. He further said, to stop infiltration, the Centre had nullified the agreement between Myanmar and India which allowed the movement of the people, and now entry into India is allowed only by visa.
Interestingly, Amit Shah got angry when a journalist questioned him on Biren Singh’s removal, in that press conference. On the other hand, there was also a report that work of border fencing has been halted in Kuki-dominated areas of the border as a result of opposition from Kuki groups, as revealed in a news-report. No one would believe that the state government did not receive this information about halting of work in Kuki areas, beforehand. In such a backdrop, the timing of the ‘secret missive’ from CMO surfaced on social media and it generated so much heat against the security establishment that the security advisor was forced to call a press conference and confirm the receipt of such an input from intelligence sources.
However, he also put a question mark on the credibility of the said input. If we remember correctly, this is not the first time that the CM office had sent secret missives to the security advisor and state DGP. When the chief minister’s security convoy was ambushed by Kuki militants in January this year, such a missive surfaced on social media. The January 15 missive had alerted and directed the DGP Manipur to take precautionary measures, stating that about 200 armed Kuki-Zo militants had moved from Churachandpur and reached Phaitol village, Old and New Keiphundai areas of Tamenglong, bordering Jiribam district. It also generated a lot of heat, whether intended or not. Still, the credibility of the said intel of 900 needs to be established so as to prep the people in the valley accordingly.
