Manipur has completed 4 months of violence since 3rd May. Meanwhile, there is news that the last 10 Kuki families living in the Imphal Valley have also left.
They allege that they were forcibly evicted. These Kuki families were shifted to Kangpokpi district on 2 September by the government.
On the other hand, an officer says that Kangpokpi district is dominated by the Kuki community, so they will be safe. These families have been taken to Motbang in Kangpokpi.
Meanwhile, on August 24, the Manipur government appointed Colonel Nectar Sanzenbam, retired from the army, as the state’s Senior Superintendent (Combat).
More than 170 people have died in the violence between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur since May 3.
According to the media report, Sanzenbaum will hold this post for the next five years. He played a key role in the 2015 Myanmar surgical strike, when Indian soldiers entered Myanmar and killed terrorists.
Violence still continues in the buffer zone on the border of Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts of Manipur. It flared up again on 29 August. As of August 2, 12 people have died, while 18 have been seriously injured.
Army has been deployed in both the districts. Right now CRPF and Assam Rifles were deployed in the buffer zone here.
At the same time, former world champion boxer and Padma Vibhushan awardee Mary Kom has once again sought help from the Centre.
She has written a letter to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah appealing that the Central Security Forces should stop both the communities from entering Kom villages.
The population of Manipur is about 38 lakhs. There are three major communities here – Meitei, Naga and Kuki. Meitais are mostly Hindus.
The Nga-Kuki follow Christianity. Come under ST category. Their population is about 50%. The Meitei community is dominant in the Imphal Valley, which covers about 10% of the state’s area.
Naga-Kuki population is about 34 percent. These people live in about 90% of the area of the state.
The Meitei community is demanding that they too be given the status of a tribe. The community filed a petition for this in the Manipur High Court.
The community argued that Manipur had merged with India in 1949. Before that they had got the status of tribe only. After this, the High Court recommended to the state government that Meitei be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Meitei tribesmen believe that years ago their kings called Kukis from Myanmar to fight the war. After that they became permanent residents.
These people cut the forest for employment and started cultivating opium. Due to this, Manipur has become a triangle of drug smuggling. All this is happening openly. They formed an arms group to fight the Naga people.
The other two tribes are against giving reservation to the Meitei community. They say that 40 of the state’s 60 assembly seats are already in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley.
In such a situation, by getting reservation for Meitei in the ST category, their rights will be divided.
Out of 60 MLAs of Manipur, 40 MLAs are from Meitei and 20 MLAs are from Naga-Kuki tribe. Till now only two out of 12 CMs have been from the tribe.
