Manipur CM Biren Singh has spat with Kuki users on Twitter, then deletes messages

After a day of high drama over his resignation as the Manipur chief minister on Friday, N Biren Singh got into a Twitter spat with Kuki social media users emphasising the ethnic group’s links with communities across the border in Myanmar. The tweets posted early on Saturday were deleted a few hours later.

Earlier on Friday, Singh had announced his decision to remain the Manipur chief minister following demonstrations by his supporters urging him not to quit. After two months of ethnic violence in the state which has left more than 100 dead, Singh had left his residence on Friday with a resignation letter to meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey. During the demonstration outside his home, one of the protestors tore up his resignation letter.

Hours later, Singh went on Twitter to respond to a number of social media users who had commented on his post about not resigning. One of the users, Thang Kuki, had commented, “You should have resigned long time ago.”

To this, Singh replied: “Are you from India or Myanmar?”

The comment highlights the fact that people from the Kuki community have close cultural ties with those living across the border in Myanmar.

The Manipur chief minister made references to Myanmar in at least two other tweets....

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