New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday said it did not want legal proceedings in connection with the Manipur ethnic clashes to be used as a platform to escalate violence in the northeastern state.
A bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha made the remarks while hearing a petition filed by the Manipur Tribal Forum — a group representing the Kuki tribes of Manipur. Calling the central government’s assurances on its handling of the situation “false”, the petition has sought deployment of more Army personnel in tribal areas of the state.
Hostilities between the non-tribal Meiteis and the tribal Kuki and Zomis, which first began on 3 May, have left over 150 dead and displaced more than 50,000 people.
Last week, the top court had directed the Manipur government to file its response to the petition, which the latter did Sunday night.
The 16-page status report submitted by the state government cautioned the court from getting swayed by “one-sided arguments” in the petition, which, it said, with the “advent of live reporting (of court proceedings)”, could “affect the public order” in Manipur.
After going through the report, the bench asked the petitioner’s counsel, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, to submit concrete suggestions to the court on how the law and order situation can be improved in Manipur.
“We are not running law and order or security apparatus there (Manipur), but we certainly are facilitators,” the bench told Gonsalves, when he alleged armed Meiteis were roaming free.
“Your skepticism cannot let us take over the law and order functionary. Give us some specific, constructive suggestions like if you want the relief camps to be increased or how to improve relief camps,” the bench further said.
The judges advised the parties before it not to argue the matter in a partisan manner since it was a humanitarian problem. “We do not want these proceedings to be used as a platform for further escalation of violence and other problems plaguing the state,” the bench said.
Also Read: ‘Hindu ki Dukan’, ‘Meitei Clinic’: Fearing mobs, Imphal shopkeepers state ethnicity using posters
Measures taken so far
While Gonsalves told the court he was concerned about armed assailants roaming free, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state of Manipur, highlighted the importance of understanding the ongoing situation and its underlying causes.
Since the state’s report was silent on recovery of weapons stolen from police stations during the initial violence, the bench asked Mehta to file a new one with those details by Tuesday. The court said it would hear the case then.
“We had enquired about it on the last hearing and also read in reports. What happened to those weapons that had been taken away? How much have you recovered,” the bench asked the solicitor.
Meanwhile, the government’s status report provided details of security and financial measures that the state and central governments have taken to bring back normalcy to Manipur. Security cover has been provided for agriculture activities and for transporting essential items from Manipur’s Jiribam to capital Imphal, the government said.
In addition, the report said that the central government had also allotted 30,000 metric tonnes of rice for sale at Rs 32/kg. Steps have also been taken to control prices of essential commodities in the market, while adequate supply of onions and potatoes has been ensured, the status report said.
The state administration said it has made efforts to identify schoolchildren in relief camps in order to facilitate their return to schools. All schools except the 96 that are still functioning as relief camps have been asked to reopen “subject to assessment of (the) local situation”, the report added.
In addition to the central government’s financial aid of Rs 101 crore for relief camps, the state has also sanctioned the use of its contingency fund, the report said, adding that money have been earmarked to extend one-time assistance to each person living in relief camps.
Meanwhile, the report said that authorities are also helping people retrieve their lost documents such as Aadhaar, health cards, and bank passbooks, adding that those living in relief camps have been engaged in activities that can help them sustain their livelihood.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also Read: Meitei village surrounded by 6 Kuki settlements defies violence with unity — ‘we grew up together’