The All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) on Wednesday blamed the BJP-led state government for the prevailing unrest in the state which has taken a heavy toll on life and property.
ATSUM is the student organisation which had called the solidarity rally on May 3 in the 10 hill districts of the state opposing the ST status demand of the majority Meitei community.
Violence broke out soon after the conclusion of the rally.
“Violence of such scale and intensity would have been prevented had the government intervened at the outset but instead of dousing the fire, the state government chose to remain a silent spectator,” ATSUM said in a media statement.
“The state government did nothing to control the mob, thereby leading to the massacre and arson,” ATSUM further claimed.
ATSUM added: “Mobs were seen accompanied by state forces and the tribal people were left defenceless. The state government needs to shoulder the responsibilities for all that happened in the state in the last few days.”
Chief minister N. Biren Singh had said on Saturday that the violence led to the death of around 60 “innocent” people and injuries to 231 people and the burning down of around 1,700 houses, besides affecting 35,655 people. Of the affected, there are 10,000 Kukis and 9,500 Meiteis, according to the army.
The ATSUM charges came a day after Mizoram’s Rajya Sabha MP K. Vanlalvena, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requested a probe into the Manipur violence by a joint parliamentary team which would include Christian MPs.
According to Vanlalvena, a mob targeted the houses, shops and vehicles belonging to non-Meitei communities in Imphal. He said “not less” than 42 churches were set on fire, of which six belonged to Meitei Christians.
Vanlalvena also said it was not a random act of violence by one community against another but a premeditated move on the part of the mob to target Christians, including Meitei Christians.
The six valley districts are dominated by the majority Meitei community, mostly Hindus. The tribal people, including Kukis and Nagas, are mostly Christians and reside in the hill districts.
The ATSUM media statement said its rally was “carried out peacefully” and ended around 12.30pm after the submission of a memorandum to the President through the respective deputy commissioners in the hill districts.
“Around 2pm, Meitei volunteers came and set fire to the Centenary Gate at Leisang in Churachandpur and beat up rally participants. This agitated the tribal people of Churachandpur. A violent scuffle between the Meitei volunteers and tribals who gathered at Kangvai broke out around 4pm at Kangvai and escalated to the burning of houses belonging to both sides in Torbung and Kangvai area,” ATSUM said.
Following the violence in Kangvai, the mob started attacking the Kuki tribal localities in Imphal and villages along the foothills at night.
“The narrative where the tribal community is being portrayed as the instigator of the violence is a false narrative.... At the same time, ATSUM calls for sanity and appeals to all and sundry to stop the violence in the state,” the statement issued by ATSUM’s department of information and publicity said.
ATSUM president Paotinthang Lupheng told The Telegraph: “So many lives have been lost, a lot of properties destroyed. The tribal people want peace. But for lasting peace, there has to be a political solution.”
Asked about the nature of the political solution, Lupheng said: “Something like separate political administration for the tribal people but that (political solution) has to be reached through consultation with all tribal communities.”
Manipur PCC president K. Meghachandra had told this newspaper on Saturday that the violence was the result of the “collapse” of the state home department, headed by the chief minister.
“Intelligence gathering was a failure. Imphal, the capital city in the valley, a highly secured area, bore the brunt of the mayhem unleashed by mobs. What happened is very unfortunate. Both communities have suffered in this ethnic unrest which vested interest exploited to give a communal colour. We want early restoration of normality, adequate supply of relief materials in relief camps and evacuation of stranded people,” the MPPC chief had said.
The chief minister announced that a high-level inquiry would be conducted to “fix” responsibility on the people and groups who “instigated” the violence and government servants who “abdicated” responsibility.
