Former Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, Siddharth Mridul, emphasized the paramount importance of upholding the rule of law and disarming all armed groups in violence-stricken Manipur to restore peace during an event in Delhi on Tuesday.

 Justice Mridul said, "The IDPs are not their [some organisations'] hostages. Let's be clear."

"They can return home provided we create an environment conducive to their returning home, which brings us back to the rule of law. Once law and order are restored and there is a rule of law, and groups have been disarmed of all the illegal weapons that they possess, either looted or smuggled, and there are talks under the auspices of the government, that's the only way forward, external factors apart because I am keen on Manipur. I am sure there are external factors, but I am not an expert on that," said Justice Mridul, who served as Manipur High Court Chief Justice from October 2023 till his retirement last month.

Since ethnic clashes erupted between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes in May 2023, at least 50,000 people from both groups have been displaced. The Kuki tribes include the 'Any Kuki Tribes,' which were added to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list in 2003 when the Congress, led by Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, was in power.

Justice Mridul reiterated the Supreme Court's remarks from November 2023, cautioning against "keeping the pot boiling" while reviewing a report from a court-appointed committee. The report highlighted concerning actions by civil society organizations that have contributed to sustaining ethnic tensions in Manipur.

"... The reason why I believe that there is somebody interested in keeping the pot boiling is that every time the situation seems to be normalising, there is a fresh injection of violence, which leads me to believe that there are forces - and if I were to believe the General, the forces are external, not internal. Even if the forces are external, they do have collaborators locally who ensure that the agenda of keeping Manipur burning is pursued vigorously," Justice Mridul said, referring to a presentation by Major General Rajan Kochhar (retired) at the Delhi event.

"I am beginning to subscribe to the idea that there does seem to be an invisible hand. Whose hand is it is not clear to me yet. There could be a number of factors at play," he said.

Justice Mridul, who had worked closely with state authorities during his time in Manipur, stated that although there have been periods without violence, normalcy has never been fully restored in the state since the clashes began in May of the previous year.

"... You must understand the separation of powers. My interaction with the executive was purely to ensure that the judiciary was able to discharge its function. These are not political discussions, they can never be political discussions. But the impression I gathered was that - I may be wrong, I may be terribly wrong - nobody seems to be in command of the vessel," he said.

"The point is that till such time there is disarmament, till the time that the weapons that were looted, snatched, whatever, are recovered, and till the time people with arms smuggled from across the border are intercepted and the weapons are taken from them, there is no possibility of peace returning to Manipur," Justice Mridul said. "Armed people are not going to permit you either to return to your homes or live peacefully."

Major General Kochhar said trust is the most important factor to normalise Manipur.

"Without trust, there will be all kinds of forces - you can call them internal, you can call them external - who will increase the divide. After I have listened to everybody here. Everybody agrees that there should be peace there. How this peace has to be brought about is the big question," said Major General Kochhar, VSM, who retired after 37 years of service.

"A large number of people have come from Myanmar to Manipur... It is very important for the local community to identify militants among the civilians. It is the responsibility of the community. Unless we do that, we are creating buffer zones within our own state. That cannot happen. A buffer zone is created between two countries that are at war to prevent that war from escalating. Golan Heights, Syria, there was a buffer zone. Lebanon, the Blue Line, there was a buffer zone... How can you have a buffer zone within your own state and restrict the movement of people from one place to another? That is the larger question which I think both the communities need to answer," Major General Kochhar said.