A Union Minister, a Rajya Sabha MP and almost all of Manipur’s Meitei MLAs attended a meeting at Imphal’s Kangla Fort on Wednesday morning – in response to “summons” issued to them by radical Meitei group Arambai Tenggol a day earlier.

Afterwards, the Arambai Tenggol claimed that the Meitei leaders had promised to convey the concerns of the community to the Centre.

Demands by the radical group, which has thousands of members and claims to represent and protect Meitei interests, include the delisting of Kukis from the Scheduled Tribe list, deportation of refugees to camps in Mizoram, border fencing, replacement of Assam Rifles with other paramilitary forces and revoking the Suspension of Operations agreement between Centre and Kuki militant groups.

While Chief Minister N Biren Singh was not at Kanmigla Fort, his name did figure in a list of signatories to demands that Meitei leaders had promised to convey to the Centre. Those in attendance included Minister of State for External Affairs and Inner Manipur Lok Sabha MP Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and Manipur Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba.

The 37 MLAs who signed the list of demands included 25 from the BJP – including the CM, his Deputy Th Biswajit Singh, and Speaker Th Satyabrata Singh – four from the NPP, two from the JDU and one Independent. It also included all five MLAs from the opposition Congress, including former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

Those who attended the meeting also said the elected representatives took an “oath” inside Kangla Fort – a historic site which served as the royal seat of the Manipur kingdom till 1891. The media was not allowed inside.

The Indian Express reached out to several MLAs who were at Kangla, but they either did not respond to calls or declined to elaborate on what had transpired.

Speaking to The Indian Express, one of the state’s 10 Kuki MLAs expressed surprise at how the MLAs could heed the call of a radical outfit.

In a statement, the ITLF, a Kuki-Zomi body based in Churachandpur, said, “For the first time in history, a militia that led attacks on innocent civilians because of their ethnicity and which openly displays sophisticated weapons stolen from police armouries was able to order state lawmakers, including the chief minister, to attend a meeting it had called and made the MLAs endorse their demands.”

It added, “Manipur state police and central security forces remained mute spectators as Arambai Tenggol leader Korounganba Khuman arrived at the venue in Imphal in a police vehicle, and the militant group proceeded to administer an oath-taking ceremony to the MLAs. All these happened even as a special team sent by the central government is camping nearby in the city. Why did the world’s largest democracy allow this… Today’s events have shown that Manipur’s government has submitted its authority to an armed militant group. ”

On Monday, a special Ministry of Home Affairs team, which landed in the state with the aim of peace talks with both the communities and to assess the current situation, had met Arambai Tenggol leaders.

After the meeting at Kangla Fort, Arambai Tenggol chief Korounganba Khuman addressed the public. PTI quoted him as saying: “The legislators, including Chief Minister N Biren Singh, today assured to convey it (the outfit’s demands) to the Centre. Our points included removal of Suspension of Operations, implementation of NRC, replacement of Assam Rifles and removal of Kuki illegal immigrants from Scheduled Tribe list to bring peace.”

He claimed that the elected representatives have promised to act within 15 days. “What we wanted to show today is that ministers and MLAs are under the public,” he said.

Quoting the legislators, he said, “If the Centre does not listen to our concerns, we (legislators) will take the movement to protect Manipur along with the people.”

The meeting at Kangla took place under heavy security. In a statement on Tuesday, the Superintendent of Police, Imphal West, had said that the outfit “has summoned all the ministers and MLA belonging to the valley districts at Kangla at 10 am”.

On Wednesday, thousands of volunteers from the group gathered in Imphal, while Meitei legislators began trickling into Kangla by around 9.30 am. The meeting ended around 11 am.