Manipur violence: Kuki MLAs seek posts similar to DGP, chief secretary
The MLAs said that the move to appoint officials was necessary since Imphal “has become a valley of death and destruction for the Kuki-Zo people”
Imphal Ten Manipur legislators who belong to the Kuki-Zomi tribes, including seven from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the creation of posts similar to chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) for “efficient administration” of five hill districts in which people from their tribes are in a majority.
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Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between the Meiteis, who are the dominant community in the state and live largely in the Imphal valley, and the Kuki tribes, who largely live in the five surrounding hill districts of Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal, Pherzawl, and Chandel. The clashes have claimed nearly 152 lives, displaced over 50,000 people, and divided the administrative and police set-up along communal lines.
The MLAs, who had on May 12, demanded creation of a separate administration for the Kuki people, said that the move to appoint a different set of officials was necessary since the state capital Imphal “has become a valley of death and destruction for the Kuki-Zo people”.
“It is pertinent to mention that even IAS and MCS officers and IPS and MPS officers belonging to the Kuki-Zo tribes have been unable to function and discharge their duties as the Imphal Valley has also become a valley of death for us,” the MLAs said in their three-page memorandum submitted on Wednesday.
“In order to solve the problems faced by government employees belonging to Kuki-Zo tribes and for efficient administration of the districts inhabited by us, the post of chief secretary or its equivalent post and the post of DGP or equivalent post need to be immediately created,” the memorandum added.
The MLAs wrote that other key senior level posts in the civil and police departments should be created in public interest, and also sought ₹500 crore from the PM’s Relief Fund for rehabilitation of the Kuki-Zo people who have been displaced or lost homes due to the clashes.
Manipur has been gripped by ethnic violence since May 3, when clashes first broke out in Churachandpur town after Kuki groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community. A single-judge bench of Manipur high court, on April 19, had issued directions to the state government to submit recommendations to the Centre for considering inclusion of the Meiteis on the ST list.
As clashes broke out, violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. The authorities quickly clamped a curfew and suspended internet, pumping in additional security forces to force a break in the spiraling clashes. Internet services have been partially restored in the state.
On May 7, chief secretary Rajesh Kumar, who was on a six-month extension since December last year, was replaced by Vineet Joshi, a 1992-batch IAS cadre from Manipur. Joshi was serving as director of the National Testing Authority and was brought back to the northeastern state for the new role.
On June 1, senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh, who is from Tripura cadre, was appointed as new director general of police of Manipur for a period of three years “as a special case in public interest”. Singh replaced P Doungel, who belonged to a prominent Kuki family and for whom a post of Officer on Special Duty (Home) was created.
On July 20, a video video of two naked Kuki woman being paraded by a mob, one of them allegedly gang raped by them, triggered nationwide outrage. The case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation and 10 people have been arrested on the basis of the clip.
As HT reported earlier, within days of the clashes starting on May 3, thousands of Kukis, including government officials, left Imphal Valley and fled to the nearby hill districts. Similarly, Meiteis residing in those districts left for the Imphal Valley. Around 50,000 people from both communities are currently living in relief camps.
Apart from ordinary citizens, government employees and police personnel have also got divided along communal lines. There has been almost no movement of people from one community to places where the other is in the majority as check posts and blockades set up by women’s groups and “defence volunteers” don’t allow anyone from the other community to enter their areas.
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In their memorandum, the MLAs pointed out instances of how members from their community got targeted in Imphal Valley. On May 4, Vungzagin Valte, a BJP MLA from Kuki community, was brutally assaulted by a mob in Imphal while he was on his way home after a meeting with chief minister N Biren Singh. On June 14, a mob set on fire the house of Nemcha Kipgen, the only woman minister in the state cabinet, located at Lamphel in Imphal West.
There were similar attacks on Meiteis in Kuki-dominated areas. In Imphal, the houses of several BJP MLAs and residence of Union minister of state for external affairs RK Ranjan Singh (all Meiteis) were vandalised or torched by unidentified miscreants.
Prime Minister Modi in Parliament last week and in his August 15 speech said efforts were on to restore peace in the state.
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