Indian boxing legend and former world champion MC Mary Com has made an appeal to the Central government to assist her state Manipur after violence broke out there during a tribal agitation amid the tension over the Manipur government’s move to protect forests in the face of opposition from illegal immigrants and the High Court’s direction to include the Meitei community in scheduled tribes.
The six-time World Amateur Boxing Champion tweeted that her native Manipur is “burning” with some images from the raging protest. She also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PMO, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and requested them to help her state to come out of the violence.
She also posted a video registering her distress over the frightening circumstances in her home state and requested both the centre and the state government to take measures to normalise the situation.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh also addressed the issue and called it a result of a prevailing misunderstanding. He also assured that his administration is taking all the necessary steps to control the situation.
Violence broke out on May 3 during a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) in the Churachandpur district’s Torbung area to oppose the demand of the non-tribal Meiteis – who dominate the Imphal Valley – for Scheduled Tribe (ST) designation. Afterwards, a curfew was imposed in eight Manipur districts, and internet service was cut off throughout the entire northeastern State.
The rally was attended by thousands of protestors and violence between tribal people and non-tribal people was reported in the Torbung area. Police fired several rounds of tear gas shells to control the mob.
Although many protesters have started returning to their homes in various parts of the hills, the situation is still tense. A substantial police presence has been ensured and the non-tribal agitators have been requested to return to their homes. However, agitated youths were observed gathering at Canchipur in the Imphal West district and Soibam Leikai in Imphal East in the Valley asking for retaliation.
Curfew under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which authorises the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assembly of four or more people in an area has been imposed due to the circumstances in both the tribally dominant Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal districts as well as the non-tribal Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, Jiribam, and Bishnupur districts. Internet services were immediately suspended for five days throughout the State.
“To thwart the design and activities of anti-national and anti-social elements and to maintain peace and communal harmony and to prevent any loss of life or danger to public and private property, it had become necessary to take adequate measures to maintain law and order in the public interest by stopping the spread of misinformation and false rumours through various social platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter on phone,” an order issued by Commissioner (Home) H Gyan Prakash read.
It further stated, “The order is being passed ex-parte in view of the emergent situation and shall be in force for the next five days with immediate effect.” The eight district administrations each issued their own curfew declaration directives.
The Army and Assam Riffle personnel have also been deployed in several affected districts in Manipur. On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the Army and Assam Rifles were called in, and by this morning, the violence had been subdued. According to the latest figures at least 7,500 civilians of all communities were rescued in major operations by the forces.
People were offered shelter at various locations within the Army and Assam Rifles contingency operating base (COB) and state government buildings. To calm the tension down, army men also marched with flags in the neighbourhood.
“So far, 4,000 people were rescued by the forces from the violence-hit areas, and given shelter and more people are being shifted to safer places,” an official informed. “Flag marches are being conducted to keep the situation under control,” stated a defence spokesperson.
The ATSUM had called for the march in all the 10 hill districts in the state to oppose moves for the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST category. The majority population in Manipur is seeking ST designation, and lawmakers from the Valley have previously publicly endorsed this demand, alarming tribes that are already on the Scheduled Tribe list.
The Valley, which makes up around a tenth of the land area of the former princely state, is home to the Meiteis, who make up 53% of the State’s population. They assert that large-scale illegal immigration by Myanmarese and Bangladeshis is responsible for their problems.
Most of the state’s hill districts, which make up a large portion of its land mass, are home to tribal people, including the Nagas and Kukis, and are shielded from encroachment by a number of laws.
To attend the protests, tribal villagers travelled in buses and open trucks to the nearest hill district offices.
In order to guarantee that the greatest number of demonstrators could attend the march, local authorities in the Naga-dominated Senapati town, the district headquarters with the same name and located approximately 58 km from Imphal, forced a complete market shutdown and the suspension of public transport from 10 am to 1 pm.
Thousands of tribal people, who constitute roughly 40% of the state’s population, marched in the procession, held signs, and chanted slogans opposing the inclusion of Meities in the ST list.
Additionally, Senapati District Students’ Association representatives met with the Deputy Commissioner and shared their worries with him. People disobeyed prohibitory orders and gathered at the public ground in Churachandpur, the second-largest town in the State, before staging a rally that continued till Tuibong.
After violent protests last week against a plan to relocate residents from restricted forest areas, prohibitions were imposed for an indeterminate time in the town. In order to contain the situation following the vandalism of a location where Chief Minister N Biren Singh was set to address a programme, security forces were hurriedly dispatched to the town from various areas of Manipur.
Similar demonstrations took place in Tengnoupal, Chandel, Kangpokpi, Noney, and Ukhrul as well, where even schoolchildren were reportedly present, according to the authorities.
In the Valley districts, including at Sugnu in the Kakching district, counter-blockades were erected in support of giving Meitei’s ST status. The majority community’s request for ST designation, as well as the preservation of trees that are reserved and protected, were screamed out by protesters.
The movement to include Meiteis in the ST category is being led by the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee Manipur (STDCM), which maintains that the demand is not just being made to protect our ancestral land, culture, and identity but also to stop illegal migration from Bangladesh, Myanmar, and other countries, as well as by people from outside the state.
