By Sunil Thongam
The ST demand for the Meitei and separate administration for the Kuki look set to further worsen the current situation and prolong the conflict in Manipur.
IMPHAL, Oct 7: On May 3, 2023, a tribal solidarity march was carried out in the hill districts of Manipur. The march spearheaded by All Tribal Students’ Union (ATSUM) was to demonstrate opposition to the Manipur High Court ruling, which directed the state government to recommend to the Centre for granting Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community.
The hill districts are mainly inhabited by tribes from the Nagas and Kukis, while the valley districts are mainly inhabited by the Meiteis. The court ruling had caused resentment to the hill people as they have been strongly objecting to the ST demand raised by the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM). It has been advocating for the inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the ST list for the last one decade.
Many considered the High Court order triggered eruption of violence in Manipur that started from Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district on May 3, 2023. The Manipur High Court later took back Meitei’s inclusion in ST list direction, order that sparked Manipur violence. However, there is a frenzied rush to identify the immediate triggers of the violence.
Many have opined that the government’s persistent dismissal of Kuki grievances, coupled with its longstanding efforts to label them as outsiders, has led to the crisis. In 2022, Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting with Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of all North Eastern States on ‘Drug Trafficking and National Security’ in Guwahati, Assam. In Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Ministry of Home Affairs has strongly resolved to fulfil the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Drug-free India’.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Manipur launched the war on drugs campaign in November 2018 and has since eradicated more than 50 per cent of poppy cultivation. Besides, Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh also launched a drive against illegal encroachment on forests and reserved forests in the state. The Biren Singh government has been taking action to prevent illegal encroachment on forests and reserved forests in the state.
The government had evicted 413 illegal encroachers from forests in Manipur. In 2022, the government demolished 69 houses that illegally encroached on the Waithou Protected Forest Area in the valley. It derecognized 38 tribal villages in the Churachandpur–Khoupum Protected Forest. The villages were mainly populated by Kuki-Zo people.
In February 2023, the government bulldozed a small village called K. Songjang, claiming that it had encroached into the protected forest. This event also caused tensions that contributed to the 2023–2024 Manipur violence. Other threats to Manipur’s forests include illegal poppy cultivation and the growth of new villages.
The Kuki people’s perception was that the state government was targeting their indigenous land rights concerns, while the Meitei community has been feeling insecurity due to the influx of refugees from Myanmar after the military coup in 2021.
The Commission of Inquiry (Col) is probing the immediate trigger of the violence but historical aspects are also being examined. The report will be finalised after submissions by the government and examination of witnesses. The three-member CoI was notified by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to probe the ethnic violence in Manipur.
Now the million dollar question is whether or not the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) would continue to raise its pressing demand. The ST demand for the Meitei and separate administration for the Kuki look set to further worsen the current situation and prolong the conflict in Manipur.
STDCM planned to organise a public convention on the theme “Manipur Government and Action on the Demand for Inclusion of Indigenous Meitei, Meetei in the ST List of India” in Imphal on October 7, 2024, but it was abruptly cancelled following reported threat from some individuals suspected to be members of an insurgent outfit. The outfit might have thought it was not the core issue, and that it should not be broaden now.
As a result of being left out of the ST list, the Meitei community feels marginalized and victimized without any constitutional protections. However, the hardships of the people of Manipur now demand that priority should be given to the peace initiative to bring an end to the 15 months old conflict, the primary problem.
The Meitei-Kuki conflict has so far left 221 people dead and 60,000 people have been displaced. Earlier figures also mentioned over 1,000 injured, and 32 missing.