Two churches torched as fresh violence erupts in Manipur

By Matters India Reporter

Imphal, May 3, 2023: Two churches were among several buildings torched May 3 as fresh violence erupted between Hill tribals and Meiteis of the Valleys in Manipur’s Churachandpur district.

Tension has spread to other areas as the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur organized a solidarity march in the seven Hill districts to secure what they say is their rights and constitutional safeguards.

It was supported by civil society organizations, tribal hohos or inpis (apex bodies), headmen or chief associations, and church leaders.

Separate demonstrations were held in a few Valley areas against the tribal rallies.

“Just got information that two churches have been burnt,” Allen Brooks, the spokesperson of United Christians Forum of Assam, told Matters India. One is a Kuki Baptist Church and the other belonged to the Presbyterian Church, he explained.

Manipur is divided between Hill and Valley areas. The Hill areas that account for 90 percent of the state’s total area are inhabited by Naga and Kuki-Chin-Mizo or Zo ethnic tribes. The Valley areas are dominated by the non-tribals or the Meiteis.

Incidents of arson and stone-pelting were reported from Churachandpur, a Hill district, and the neighboring Valley district of Bishnupur. Several houses were reportedly burnt down.

On May 3, the Manipur government barred mobile internet services across the state for five days to check the spread of hate speech and rumors on social media.

The solidarity march was organized to oppose the demand for Scheduled Tribe status by a section of Meiteis.

The Kuki community has accused the state government of evicting legitimate residents in the state, accusing them of encroaching reserved forest land.

Around 50,000 people gathered at Churachandpur’s Lamka public ground. Some young participants wore T-shirts with the message: ‘Tribals United.’

However, unidentified miscreants reportedly indulged in arson at several localities during the rally in Churachandpur.

Police fired teargas shells to stop the clashes in the two districts.

The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee Manipur (STDCM), which leads the movement for the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST category, clarified that it had not called for protest against the tribals’ solidarity rally.

Earlier in the day, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh called for dialogue to resolve the tension.

“Kindly avoid giving hindrance in traffic movement in the roads. Things can be solved through dialogue,” he pleaded through social media.

Meanwhile security has been beefed up in Churachandpur where prohibitory orders have been in force since April 27.

Social media rumors have triggered violence in Imphal West district.

The tribal students body submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioners in all Hill districts to forward to the Indian president.

“The demand for ST status by the Meitei/Meetei now, 70 years after the Constitution of India made a provision for Scheduled Tribes, is only a nefarious policy to exploit constitutional measures to grasp and dispossess the tribal people in the hills from their lands,” the memorandum alleges.

“The land of the tribal peoples in the hills of Manipur is protected by the constitutional provisions under Section 158 of the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (MLR and LR) Act, 1960, under Article 371C of Indian Constitution, which stated that tribal land cannot be transferred to non-tribal individuals, including Meiteis,” it adds.

The memorandum points out that the Meiteis occupy the plains, and constitute more than 60 percent of the population.

If they are granted ST status, the “constitutional and legal protection given to the marginalized tribals of Manipur will become null and void,” the memorandum says.

The Meitei community leaders maintained that they did not call for protests as they treat their Hill people like brothers.

The STDCM General Secretary Bhogendrajit Keithellaapam told ThePrint that they did not want any confrontation or unwanted disturbances. “We treat our Hill people like our own brothers, but don’t know why they are so against us.”

However, it is the constitutional right for every community to demand ST status, he asserted.

Meanwhile, Sangmuang Hangsing, an independent researcher based in Manipur, told The Quint that the Manipur chief minister has faced allegations of pushing an anti-tribal agenda since his appointment.

He is accused of expelling tribes from their villages, demolishing decades-old churches in Imphal, and classifying a majority of tribal settlements as reserved forests, which deems settlers as illegal immigrants.