Manipur: The Manipur government on May 4 issued a shoot-at-sight order in “extreme cases”, as escalating ethnic violence following a tribal solidarity march displaced more than 9,000 people in the State. There was no official confirmation of the number of people killed or injured in the violence, but Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh admitted that “some precious lives were lost”.
Clashes initially broke out during the course of Wednesday’s solidarity march, called by the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur. Scheduled Tribe communities, mostly from the Kuki-Zomi tribal group, are protesting a move to grant a long-standing demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community, which makes up the majority of the State’s population. On April 19, the Manipur High Court directed the State government to submit its recommendation to include the Meitei community in the ST list to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry by May 29.
Admitting “some precious lives were lost”, CM N. Biren Singh appealed to the people to maintain peace and harmony, soon after updating Home Minister Amit Shah on the ground situation.
Hundreds of houses, churches, temples, and vehicles were either vandalised or set ablaze across five districts: Imphal, Churachandpur, Bishnupur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal. Among the seriously injured was Manipur MLA and former Tribal Affairs Minister, Vungzagin Valte, who was admitted to a hospital after a mob attacked his official residence in the State capital Imphal.
The Meitei, who are the majority in the state, primarily inhabit the Manipur valley. The Meitei’s claim that they are facing difficulty in view of “large-scale illegal immigration by Myanmarese and Bangladeshis”. As per existing law, the Meiteies are not allowed to settle in the hill areas of the state.
According to sources, Centre is rushing additional troops to the state. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will airlift forces from Guwahati and Tezpur in Assam. Former CRPF chief Kuldeep Singh has been appointed as the security advisor for Manipur while senior IPS officer Ashutosh Sinha made the overall commander overseeing the peace restoration operations in the state.
Given the volatile atmosphere in the state, internet services have been suspended across the state till Monday, train operations have been stopped and curfew imposed in non-tribal dominated Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, Jiribam and Bishnupur districts and tribal-dominated Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal districts.
