Days after he said he was getting death threats for a viral video where he was criticising Manipur’s ex-CM N. Biren Singh, former State President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), M. Barish Sharma on Wednesday (February 19, 2025) said that he had been provided State police protection but in a letter to the Governor has requested central forces on his security detail.
In a letter to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Mr. Sharma said that the six-man protection detail was all-Meitei and given “past instances in Manipur where police protection has failed”, he continued to fear for his life and requested “neutral, well-trained” central security forces on his protection detail.
Speaking to The Hindu, he said, “I don’t trust the State police and what the ex-Chief Minister might do.”
He said in the letter to the Governor, “It has been observed that, in many cases, when mobs attack, even State police personnel – due to community affiliations – either remain passive or are unable to control the violence.”
He cited attacks on the Imphal homes of Ministers, MLAs and even kin of the Chief Minister in November 2024 despite police protection after public outrage over the killings of civilians, including women and children, in Jiribam district.
Mr. Sharma explained that on February 17, “a group of men and women from Kumbi” showed up at his home “without any prior provocation or cause”, “with the apparent intent to vandalize and try to set fire to my house”. It was at this moment, when the mob of people, which included members of Meira Paibi groups, that Mr. Sharma had made some criticisms about Mr. Singh.
He had said that he was “among the first village volunteers” to have been “used and thrown” by Mr. Singh, further implying that they “made war” at his command.
‘Receiving death threats’
A video of these remarks soon went viral on social media and chat groups, following which Mr. Sharma had told The Hindu that he was getting death threats over the contents of the viral video. “These are not Kuki people, they are Meitei,” he had said at the time.
In the letter to Governor Bhalla, he added that some of the threats came from people who claimed to be members of the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), a proscribed outfit banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
He added that the callers had threatened to “bomb my house and inflict harm upon my family, including my innocent children”, also providing three phone numbers from which he had received threats.
