The Manipur Police has stopped the movement of 177 of its personnel who were transferred from their present posts last week after Kuki organisations alleged that over 100 police personnel from their community were being transferred to areas with Meitei-majority population without regard to their safety.
In a statement issued on Friday night, the Manipur Police said that the transfer and posting was done of personnel from all communities employed with Manipur Rifles and India Reserve Battalion.
“The transfer and posting has been done in order to streamline the excess manpower against the sanctioned post available in all MR/IR units and to facilitate the process for preparation of their salaries,” the statement said.
“However, in view of the present crisis, there is no immediate movement of the personnel required at this stage,” it added.
In an order issued on February 14, DGP Rajiv Singh had directed transfer/detachment of 177 low ranked personnel to different places “with immediate effect in public interest”.
On Friday, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an influential Kuki organisation, wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah asking him to intervene and stop the “discriminatory order”.
“The immediate transfer of more than a hundred Kuki-Zo tribal police personnel to Meitei-majority areas is unacceptable. It requires them to travel to Meitei districts and, if they survive the journey, be stationed with mostly Meitei police personnel. In other words, this is a death sentence as the government cannot guarantee their safety,” said the letter, which HT has seen.
{{/usCountry}}“The immediate transfer of more than a hundred Kuki-Zo tribal police personnel to Meitei-majority areas is unacceptable. It requires them to travel to Meitei districts and, if they survive the journey, be stationed with mostly Meitei police personnel. In other words, this is a death sentence as the government cannot guarantee their safety,” said the letter, which HT has seen.
{{/usCountry}}Manipur Police officials said that while the movement of the transferred personnel has been stopped at present, the order for their transfer is still active and these personnel can be shifted from their present posts, when needed.
Manipur has been roiled by ethnic clashes between Meitei and Kuki communities since May last year. The violence has claimed at least 215 lives and displaced around 50,000 people.