Churachandpur: Three people were killed Monday evening after violence erupted in Manipur’s Churachandpur town hours after the legislative assembly of the northeastern state passed three bills. Indefinite curfew has been imposed in the area.
Five people were injured, two of them seriously, and the protesters torched the houses of Manipur’s Health Minister Phungzathang Tonsing and five other lawmakers.
While two people died in police firing, one person, an associate of a legislator, was burnt to death.
Groups opposed to the passing of three bills in the assembly went on rampage around 6 pm. The bills seek to regulate the entry of outsiders in the state through a permit system and carry out land reforms in the state.
The lawmakers were targeted because none of them objected to the bills, NDTV reported quoting sources. Their houses were set on fire and the mob prevented the police and fire engines from reaching the area. The minister and the lawmakers were reported to be safe.
Reports say the vehicle of Churachandpur Deputy Commissioner and his escort were also torched.
The main objection, according to groups leading the protest, is to an amendment bill passed called Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reform Act (7th Amendment Bill 2015).
The amendment, they say, will make tribal areas — currently off limits to non-tribals — accessible to all and lead to tribals, the Nagas and the Kukis, losing their land.
A clause in the bills passed aims to set 1951 as the base year to identify non-indigenous people, who are regarded as outsiders by a section. The new law decrees that those who settled in Manipur before 1951 can have property rights. The rest will have to give up property and may even be asked to leave.
Protestors say most people living in the hill areas, particularly the Kuki tribe, share ethnic bonds with neighboring Myanmar and don’t have exact records of when they settled in these parts, and hence any cut-off is impractical.
Manipur has been witnessing violent agitations over the last three years for the implementation of the Inner Line Permit System.
The agitation is based on a belief that an influx of outsiders into the state has taken away jobs and land from the indigenous people, unlike in states such as neighboring Nagaland, where outsiders’ entry is strictly regulated.
Police said the torched houses belonged to legislators Manga Vaiphei from Henglep constituency and Vungzagin Valte from Thanlom constituency, besides Phungzaphang Tonsimg, the minister.
Three tribal student organizations, who called a 12-hour general strike in the hill districts to protest the passing of the bills were suspected to be behind the arson, the police said.
Keywords: Manipur minister, MLAs houses, Phungzaphang Tonsimg, Manga Vaiphei