Manipur Protests And Violence: Manipur, the north-eastern state of the country, is burning in the fire of violence. Armed mobs are attacking villages, houses are being set on fire, shops are being ransacked. The situation got so bad here that curfew was imposed in 8 districts. Mobile internet services were stopped for 5 days.
Violence broke out in Torbang area of Churachandpur district on Wednesday (May 3) during the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ by ‘All Tribal Student Union Manipur’ (ATSUM). When the situation went out of control on Thursday, May 4, the state government issued a shoot-at-sight order in case of a very serious situation.
In the order issued by the Governor, it has been said that “shoot at sight” action can be taken if the situation is not under control despite warnings and warnings. This notification was issued under the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 under the signature of the Home Commissioner of the State Government.
So far 9000 people have been forced to be displaced due to the violence. 55 pieces of the Indian Army have been deployed in the area, while another 14 have been kept on standby. While Chief Minister N Biren Singh urged people to maintain peace, the authorities brought the situation under control in Moreh and Kangpokpi in the state.
They are now working hard to restore normalcy in capital Imphal and Churachandpur. However, still the state government is not in a position to tell how many people were killed and injured in the violence. Actually, all this did not happen here in a moment. Its background started being made in February this year itself.
The rest of the work was done by the instructions issued by the Manipur High Court to the state government. After this the entire state came under the grip of violence. The violence took place between the communities of Naga, Kuki and Meitei. To understand this whole dispute between these communities, it is also necessary to look at the caste and geographical structure here.
What is the geography here?
Before understanding the dispute of Meitei, Naga, Kuki population, it is necessary to be familiar with the geographical structure of this state. If seen, this is the real root of the quarrel. Actually the size of this state is like a football stadium.
In this, the Imphal Valley is exactly in the middle like a playfield. The hilly areas around it are like a gallery. Two highways called the lifeline of Manipur connect this state with the rest of the world.
Mathematics of Meitei, Naga, Kuki population
Meitei is the largest community of Manipur. There is a sizeable number of them in the capital Imphal. These are commonly called Manipuri. According to the last census of 2011, these people constitute 64.6 per cent of the state’s population, but they live in only about 10 per cent of Manipur’s land area. Most Meitei are Hindu and 8 percent are Muslim.
Apart from being a majority community, the Meiteis also have a greater representation in the Manipur Legislative Assembly. This is because, out of 60 assembly seats in the state, 40 are from the Imphal Valley region. This is the area mostly settled by the Meitei people.
On the other hand, there are also Naga and Kuki tribals in the state’s population, which constitute about 40 per cent of the population, but they occupy 90 per cent of Manipur’s land. In this way, 35 percent of the state’s recognized tribes live on 90 percent of the land in this hilly geographical region, but only 20 MLAs from this region go to the assembly.
The 33 communities which have the status of tribes. They belong to the Naga and Kuki-Zomis tribes and are mainly Christians. According to the 2011 census data, Manipur has an almost equal population of Hindus and Christians. Means the population of these two is about 41 percent. That’s the only issue.
What does the Meitei community say?
To date, 34 sub-tribes of the Naga and Kuki-Zomi tribes are on the government’s list of Scheduled Tribes, but the Meitei are not. However, through the Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee, Manipur, the community has been demanding ST status for decades.
They argue that they were listed as one of the tribes of Manipur before its merger with India in 1949, but lost this tag when the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, was drafted . Claiming that they had been left out of the ST list, they stuck to their demands.
However, their demand has been strongly opposed by tribal student unions representing the existing 36 ST communities in the state, who have argued that granting Meitei ST status would defeat the very purpose of protecting tribal communities through reservation.
K Bhogendrajit Singh, general secretary of Manipur’s Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee, which has been pushing the demand for tribal status since 2012, said in an interview, “No citizen of India, including our own Pahari people, can settle in the Imphal Valley.” You can come and stay.”
Organizations of the Meitei community say that the demand for ST status is justified for their survival and protection from the influx of outsiders, especially from Myanmar. They say the ST tag will help them acquire land in the hills like tribal people, who have no restrictions on buying land in the “unreserved” Imphal Valley. The Meitei community is angry that tribals are buying land in the Imphal valley where they live, but it is forbidden to do so in their mountains.
meitei community reached the court
Seeking this in a petition before the Manipur High Court, the Meitei (Meitei) Tribes Association argued that they were a recognized tribe before the merger of the princely state of Manipur with the Union of India in 1949, but that their identity changed after the merger. Got lost
They have argued in court that the demand for ST status goes beyond reservation in jobs, educational institutions and tax relief and extends to the need to “protect” the community. Along with this, it is for the need to save the ancestral land, tradition, culture and language of the Meitei community.
In fact, hearing the matter, on April 19, the Manipur High Court issued a direction to the state government to consider the request for inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST list within four weeks and to submit the ST list to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs by May 29. Send a recommendation to include the Meitei people.
Hearing a petition filed by members of the Meitei Tribal Association, Acting Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court M.V. Muraleedharan observed that it was appropriate to direct the State Government to expeditiously consider the representation for inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST list.
The High Court observed that after repeated demands and reminder letters to the State Government and the Central Government, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs sent a letter to the Government of Manipur in 2013, requesting the Government to include the Meitei community in the ST list. The request was indicated. In this letter, the government of Manipur was asked for the caste report along with the social and economic survey.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs had said that, as per the accepted procedure for inclusion in the ST list, the proposal should be sent by the state government. However, since then, the state government had not sent any file to the central government on the possibility of including the community in the ST list.
In this series, the Manipur High Court on Wednesday 3 May issued notices to the chairman of the hill area committee (legislative body) and the ATSUM president for inciting and criticizing people against a decision. The court asked the media, organisations, civil society groups and general public not to indulge in activities that could bring down the dignity of the court.
Dinganglung Gangmei, chairman of the Hill Area Committee, had reportedly circulated a statement against the court order and expressed displeasure that the committee, a constitutional body, was neither made a party to the matter nor consulted. it was done.
Why do tribals have objection to the demand of Meitei community?
The demand for Scheduled Tribe status of the Meitei people has always faced opposition from the Kuki and Nagaon tribes. They argue that Meitei is the dominant population in the state and also dominates the political representation.
They further argue that the Manipur language of the Meitei people is already included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Along with this, that section of the Meitei community, which is predominantly Hindu, is already classified under Scheduled Castes (SC) or Other Backward Classes (OBC). In this way they have access to all the opportunities associated with this state.
Thongkholal Haokip, assistant professor at JNU’s Center for the Study of Law and Governance, writes in his paper The Politics of Scheduled Tribe Status in Manipur, “The claim that the Meitei need ST status to protect their culture and identity is suicidal. Is. This is a major group controlling the state and its system. The state has been protecting their cultural, political and economic rights. In such a situation, their culture and identity is not in danger in any way.
This view is also shared by political scientist Kham Khan Suan Hsing. In a report in The Scroll, he has said, “If Meitei manages to include himself in the ST list, he would surely enjoy all the benefits of protective discrimination with the four important categories of recognition – ST, SC, OBC and EWS.” Those who do will become the only community in India.”
The All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM), an influential tribal body, called the High Court’s order of April 19 a ‘Black Letter Day’ and called the judgment a “prejudicial judgment” that only took into account the interests of the petitioners .
Why did violence break out in Manipur on May 3?
The situation of tension in Manipur started building from February this year itself. When the BJP-led state government started removing encroachments from protected areas here in February. The residents here were opposing this attitude of the government.
After this, on May 3, the Manipur High Court gave a direction. In this, the court directed the government to implement the 10-year-old recommendation to include the non-tribal Meitei community in the tribe. Things just started getting worse from here.
Angered by this decision of the High Court, on Wednesday (May 3) the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was called by the ‘All Tribal Student Union Manipur’ (ATSUM) in Torbang area of Churachandpur district. This was the tipping point i.e. from here the talk escalated and reached to violence. Soon after, violence broke out in the area. The violence that erupted in this march of Naga and Kuki tribals took a terrible form in a single night.
Kelvin Nihsial, general secretary of the All Manipur Tribal Union, told India Today that an hour after the march ended, a group of Meiteis brandishing guns barged into Kuki villages and set their houses on fire. However, the Meitei community gives a different account of events. One of the members of this community said that it was the Kukis who entered Meitei villages, set houses on fire, ransacked their properties and chased them away.
After the violence broke out, curfew has been imposed and internet services have been suspended. Following the violence, Olympic medalist and boxing icon MC Mary Kom pleaded for help. She tweeted, “My state Manipur is burning, please help.”
Myanmar- Bangladesh connection of violence
Even though the Meitei community is in majority in Manipur, it is a victim of insecurity. Actually, the 1643 kilometer border of north-eastern India is with Myanmar. These people are in awe of illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh settling here.
This community is feeling its own cultural identity in danger. According to official figures, around 52,000 refugees from Myanmar are settled in the northeastern states of the country. Manipur alone has 7800 refugee population.
This figure is only of those who have officially got refugee status. Apart from these, a large number of illegal migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh live in this state. Meitei organizations claim that the people of the state are facing difficulties because of these ‘illegal immigrants’ who have settled here on a large scale.
On the other hand, pro-government groups in Manipur have claimed that tribal groups want Chief Minister Nongthomban Biren Singh to be removed from power for their own benefit. This is because he has waged a war against drugs in the state. According to a report in The Hindu newspaper, CM Biren Singh’s government is ending opium cultivation here.
Police said tension prevailed in Churachandpur, Chandel, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal districts where Kuki-Zomi people are protesting against the eviction drive in the name of the state’s BJP-led government’s anti-drug campaign.
These illegal migrants are from the Kuki-Jomi tribe of Manipur. The Kuki-Zomi people are accused of illegally entering India on a large scale from Myanmar and encroaching on state-owned forest land to cultivate poppy (opium). The first violent protest in the state took place on March 10 during the eviction of illegal immigrants from Kuki village.
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