MANIPUR IS BURNING: INTERNET SUSPENDED, CURFEW IMPOSED, ARMY DEPLOYED!

ARABINDA RABHA

To control the worsening law and order situation after tribal groups took out rallies in several districts of Manipur, the Manipur government has suspended mobile internet for five days. Simultaneously a ban on large gatherings, a night curfew too has been imposed in several districts of the state.

NESO (North East Students’ Organisation) says Govt has to take into account that indigenous communities of NE are not illegal immigrants.

The North East Students’ Organization (NESO) on Wednesday expressed concern over the recent incident in Manipur whereby the government of Manipur is evicting the indigenous settlers belonging to the Zo community and the violent incidents that follow.

“They were evicted on the pretext that they are settling on reserve forest whereas the fact is that these indigenous settlers have been residing in these areas for ages,” NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa said in a statement.

He also reminded that the Manipur Government last month has also been trying to evict the Khasi settlers who also have been residing in those areas since time immemorial.

“The government of Manipur has to take into account that these are the indigenous communities of North East and have inhabited these lands from their forefathers and they are not illegal immigrants from Nepal or Bangladesh,” Jyrwa said.

Meanwhile, the NESO called upon its concerned constituent organizations, the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) and Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) to take initiative and to coordinate between them so as to maintain calm and to diffuse any communal tension.

“NESO also calls upon the different indigenous communities to maintain peace and calm and to uphold the age-old relationship that we have developed over the generations,”Jyrwa said.

The Army today held a flag march in violence-hit areas in Manipur. Incidents of violence were reported today in some parts of Imphal. The Army and paramilitary forces were called in to contain the escalating violence. In view of the situation, a curfew has been imposed in non-tribal-dominated Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, Jiribam, and Bishnupur districts, and tribal-dominated Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal districts.

Mobile internet services were suspended across the state for five days with immediate effect but broadband services were operational.

Internet services suspended in Manipur for five days amid incidents of fighting among youths, and volunteers of different communities as a rally was organised by All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) Manipur in protest against the demand for inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the ST category.

Two issues in the state have led to the situation:

1)CM Biren Singh’s move to protect the forest faces resistance from illegal Immigrants and drug cartels.

2)The Manipur High Court’s recent direction to the State Government to consider the inclusion of Meitei in ST has led to an outburst from the tribal community who are ST.

IMG 20230504 WA0014 — M.P.’s letter to the Home Minister

A curfew was imposed in many districts of Manipur and mobile internet services were suspended in the Manipur over violence during a tribal agitation on Wednesday.

Violence broke out during the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ called by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) in the Torbung area of Churachandpur district to protest the demand of non-tribal Meiteis, who dominate the Imphal Valley, for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and thousands of tribals — who make up about 40 per cent of the state’s population — joined the processions, waved placards and raised slogans opposing ST status for the Meitei.

The Meiteis, who make up 53 per cent of the state’s population, inhabit the Valley, which accounts for about a tenth of the former princely state’s land area. They claim they are facing problems in view of “large-scale illegal immigration by Myanmarese and Bangladeshis”.

The hill districts which account for much of the state’s land mass is inhabited mostly by tribals — including the Nagas and Kukis – and are protected from encroachment by various laws.

The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee Manipur (STDCM), which is spearheading the movement for the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST category said the demand is being made not merely for reservation in jobs, educational institutions, and tax relief but “more to protect our ancestral land, culture and identity”, which they claimed was being “threatened by illegal migration from Myanmar, Bangladesh and by people from outside the state”.

04-05-2023

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