Removal of PK Singh as CS : Not the right thing Mr Amit Shah
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Yambem Laba
In Greek mythology there is a concept called the Augean Stable a place so much filled with muck and filth that it would require super human effort to have it cleaned. That task was ultimately assigned to Hercules the superman of ancient times. Manipur had in the last two years of runaway violence and lawlessness had made the State metamorphose from being India’s Bosnia to a miniature Afghanistan with the rich Vaishnavite and Christian culture being replaced by gun culture where both sides fought with unseen and unheard where no quarters were asked and none given by both the sides one where women and children were picked up as soft targets. After some 260 lives were lost and over 60,000 rendered homeless and thousands of houses razed to the ground and the internet cumulatively shut down for months Manipur was thrown back to the dark ages and reduced to a modern day Augean stable.
In February 2025 it had appeared that the Government of India had decided to call it a day and had asked CM N Biren Singh to throw in the towel and in a first imposed President’s Rule keeping the House under suspended animation in spite of the fact that it was a BJP led Government in the State as in the State. Apparently the Union Home Minister seemed poised to be tough and inducted former Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla as the Governor and seasoned administrator Prashant Kumar Singh (PK Singh) as the Chief Secretary.
Soon a semblance of law and order had resurfaced over the State with over 1000 firearms and accessories recovered within a span of five months.
The induction of PK Singh as the Chief Secretary was a good move by the Centre for apart from being a Manipur cadre officer he speaks Manipuri language and can feel the pulse of all sections of Manipuris be it the Meiteis, Kukis or Nagas. But the decision to remove him from the helm of affairs suddenly unannounced has come as a bolt from the blue.
It is not known if it was a product of internal strife within the administration but if it was a power struggle then a man from the Manipur cadre should have come in as the new Chief Secretary.
The Centre’s plan on Manipur is even becoming murkier for the new incumbent is a rank outsider belonging to the UT Cadre whose only qualification is that he had served as the Chief Secretary of Goa. This reminds me of an incident in the early 1960s when a person appointed as the Chief Secretary of Manipur had sent a telegram asking “how far is Imphal from Manipur”.
The induction of a non-State cadre man as the CS is an insult to the Manipuris. I recall how in the 1990s when Raj Kumar Phalguni the first Meitei IAS officer wanted to return as the Chief Secretary he was denied on grounds that he then belonged to the Karnataka Cadre.
The only visible mistake that PK Singh seems to have made from the media point of view was his not revealing the Inquiry Committee report instituted over the Gwaltabi when Army personnel had halted a bus carrying media personnel and forcing them to remove the Manipur signage from the Manipur State Transport Corporation bus. Perhaps he might be having his intention but that apart he has a clean chit.
The inability of the State Government not being able to open the highways after announcing that free movement would be resumed the onus of which falls on Governor Bhalla for the question remains as to whether it was an executive decision arrived with the Governor in Council or not. The recent occasional case of Kukis firing at Meitei farmers can only mean one thing that the army and para military forces present are not being given clear cut orders.
But all said and done goodbye P K and the onus is now on the Centre to prove its capability and sincerity in cleaning the Manipuri Augean Stable.
In Greek mythology there is a concept called the Augean Stable a place so much filled with muck and filth that it would require super human effort to have it cleaned. That task was ultimately assigned to Hercules the superman of ancient times. Manipur had in the last two years of runaway violence and lawlessness had made the State metamorphose from being India’s Bosnia to a miniature Afghanistan with the rich Vaishnavite and Christian culture being replaced by gun culture where both sides fought with unseen and unheard where no quarters were asked and none given by both the sides one where women and children were picked up as soft targets. After some 260 lives were lost and over 60,000 rendered homeless and thousands of houses razed to the ground and the internet cumulatively shut down for months Manipur was thrown back to the dark ages and reduced to a modern day Augean stable.
In February 2025 it had appeared that the Government of India had decided to call it a day and had asked CM N Biren Singh to throw in the towel and in a first imposed President’s Rule keeping the House under suspended animation in spite of the fact that it was a BJP led Government in the State as in the State. Apparently the Union Home Minister seemed poised to be tough and inducted former Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla as the Governor and seasoned administrator Prashant Kumar Singh (PK Singh) as the Chief Secretary.
Soon a semblance of law and order had resurfaced over the State with over 1000 firearms and accessories recovered within a span of five months.
The induction of PK Singh as the Chief Secretary was a good move by the Centre for apart from being a Manipur cadre officer he speaks Manipuri language and can feel the pulse of all sections of Manipuris be it the Meiteis, Kukis or Nagas. But the decision to remove him from the helm of affairs suddenly unannounced has come as a bolt from the blue.
It is not known if it was a product of internal strife within the administration but if it was a power struggle then a man from the Manipur cadre should have come in as the new Chief Secretary.
The Centre’s plan on Manipur is even becoming murkier for the new incumbent is a rank outsider belonging to the UT Cadre whose only qualification is that he had served as the Chief Secretary of Goa. This reminds me of an incident in the early 1960s when a person appointed as the Chief Secretary of Manipur had sent a telegram asking “how far is Imphal from Manipur”.
The induction of a non-State cadre man as the CS is an insult to the Manipuris. I recall how in the 1990s when Raj Kumar Phalguni the first Meitei IAS officer wanted to return as the Chief Secretary he was denied on grounds that he then belonged to the Karnataka Cadre.
The only visible mistake that PK Singh seems to have made from the media point of view was his not revealing the Inquiry Committee report instituted over the Gwaltabi when Army personnel had halted a bus carrying media personnel and forcing them to remove the Manipur signage from the Manipur State Transport Corporation bus. Perhaps he might be having his intention but that apart he has a clean chit.
The inability of the State Government not being able to open the highways after announcing that free movement would be resumed the onus of which falls on Governor Bhalla for the question remains as to whether it was an executive decision arrived with the Governor in Council or not. The recent occasional case of Kukis firing at Meitei farmers can only mean one thing that the army and para military forces present are not being given clear cut orders.
But all said and done goodbye P K and the onus is now on the Centre to prove its capability and sincerity in cleaning the Manipuri Augean Stable.