New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Thursday that he would visit violence-hit Manipur soon to resolve disputes but all groups should maintain peace.
Shah, who was in Guwahati, appealed to the state’s warring factions to begin a dialogue. He said at an event: “Justice will be done by everyone. I will go to Manipur in a few days and will stay there for three days and talk to the people of Manipur for peace.”
Manipur has seen widespread ethnic clashes in May between tribal Kukis and non-tribal Meiteis. The death toll so far has been above 60.
A Kuki BJP MLA was almost lynched by a mob on 3 May, and injured so grievously that he remains in a coma in a Delhi hospital.
As part of relief efforts, Meiteis in hilly areas have been moved out where the Kukis are a majority. Similarly, the state’s valley areas – which are dominated by the Meiteis – have been vacated by the Kukis.
Observers, including Manipuri academics and government officials from both communities, told ThePrint that the state has not ever seen such large-scale flushing out of people from a particular community. One professor said it was akin to ethnic cleansing of tribals from the valley.
Violent clashes broke out in the state after a tribal solidarity march on 3 May protesting against the Meitei community’s 10-year-old demand for a Scheduled Tribe status.
The immediate trigger for the clashes was a Manipur High Court order directing the state government to recommend to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry by 29 May, an ST tag for the community. The petitioners argued that this community had once enjoyed the ST status prior to the merger of Manipur with the Indian Union and had sought its restoration.
The governments of Manipur, irrespective of who comes to power, have always been dominated by the Meiteis, who account for about 53 per cent of the state’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance came to power in the 60-seat Manipur Assembly in 2022. Opposition Congress slumped to just five seats after being the single-largest party in 2017.
There has been a long history of mutual suspicion between the Meiteis and the hill tribes — mostly Kukis and Nagas — who make up 40 per cent of the population.
The Imphal Valley is 10 per cent of the total land mass while the surrounding hills, home to a long-running insurgency, accounts for 90 per cent.
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