Biren's Curious Apology to Manipur 'Natives'; Public Erasure of Manmohan at South Asian University; Dosanjh Kisses the Ring

A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Tanweer Alam, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK

---

Snapshot of the day

January 1, 2025

Siddharth Varadarajan

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh yesterday said at a press conference in Imphal that he felt “regret and want[ed] to say sorry to the people of the state for what [has been] happening till today since” May 3, 2023. Seconds later he added that he would like to apologise to “natives”. The “progress” made in the “last three-four months” gave him hope that 2025 would see peace return to his state, Biren Singh continued. When Congressman Jairam Ramesh asked why Prime Minister Modi could not travel to Manipur and also issue an apology, the chief minister accused him of politicising a genuine apology and said the state’s “turmoil” stemmed from “the past sins committed by the Congress”.

Singh’s reference to ‘natives’ is curious as he has frequently referred to the state’s