The North-eastern state of Manipur is rocked by violence; as the tribal and non-tribal groups are clashing over conflicting interests. According to reports, the reason for this ongoing violence is being attributed to a protest against the demand of non-tribal Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The issue came to head on Wednesday, May 3, when the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) called for a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ to protest against the demand for ST status by the non-tribal Meitei community.
As per the students union, “lawmakers of the valley areas are openly endorsing the Meitei community’s demand for ST status despite the fact that the community is relatively affluent”. Their argument is that granting the Meitei community further advantages would be unfair.”
The Meiteis are mostly Hindus, who constitute 53 per cent population, and dominate the Imphal Valley.
In contrast, the tribal groups, including Kukis who are predominantly Christian, mainly live in the surrounding hill districts and constitute about 40% of the state’s population.
On Wednesday, May 3rd, a rally was held in the Torbung area of Manipur’s Churachandpur district, which was attended by thousands of protesters. The demonstration escalated into violence, prompting the deployment of Indian Army and Assam Rifles personnel to evacuate thousands of residents to safe zones.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, May 4th, the authorities at a higher level also issued shoot-at-sight order to prevent further escalation and uphold law and order in the state.
But, tragically, during the evacuation of Meiteis in Churachandpur, security forces tragically shot dead four people, while an IRS officer named Letminthang Haokip also got killed in Imphal.
The Indian Revenue Service (IRS) Association condemned Haokip’s killing, tweeting that the death of an innocent public servant on duty could not be justified by any cause or ideology.
This shooting in Churachandpur comes after days of fierce clashes between the state’s majority Meitei community and the Kuki tribe.
According to ground reports, state capital Imphal has seen Kukis at the receiving end of the violence, while the Meiteis have been targeted in areas dominated by hill tribes.
Earlier, this week, Mary Kom – India’s top female boxer, who hails from the state – appealed to the federal and state governments to take quick action to defuse the tense situation.
As far as the current situation is concerned, two issues in the state have led to this situation – CM Biren Singh’s move to protect forest and inclusion of non tribal Meities in the ST community.
It may be noted that due to widespread opium plantations, which has been happening for the last 15-20 years, there has been a lot of deforestation in the state, reported ANI.
The widespread opium plantations are considered to have grown exponentially due to the huge influx of illegal migrants from Myanmar.
To tackle this issue, government took some steps to identify the illegal immigrants in the state. For that, a sub-committee was formed to carry out identification drives of illegal migrants in the various districts.
A Manipur Population Commission has also been constituted to gather data and ground reports. Meanwhile, the state government is also setting up temporary shelters for the Myanmarese nationals who entered the state to escape the ongoing crisis in the state.
Amid such escalated situations, internet services are completely snapped in the state.
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