News Analysis India

Tag: ITLF

  • Replying to RSS chief’s question, Manipur tribal body claims CM Biren Singh instigated ethnic strife

    By PTI

    IMPHAL: The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an organisation of the Kuki-Zo community, on Tuesday alleged that Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has “instigated” the ethnic strife in the northeastern state which began in early May.

    Commenting on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark that Meiteis and Kukis, the two warring communities in the state, were living together for a long time, the ITLF asked why no clashes had taken place between the two sides before the present government started ruling the state in March 2017.

    Addressing the RSS Dussehra rally at Nagpur earlier in the day, Bhagwat said, “Who actually fuelled the conflict? It (violence) is not happening, it is being made to happen.”

    In a statement, the ITLF alleged that the answer to his question is Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

    The tribal organisation also raised a series of questions on the Manipur situation such as why AFSPA was recently removed only in valley areas and not in hill districts.

    While the Meitis live mainly in the Imphal Valley, Kukis are in majority in hills districts.

    Another question raised by the ITLF is: “Why was the government notification of 1966 regarding ‘reserved’ and ‘protected’ forests under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 suddenly implemented in 2023?” 

    The strife in Manipur was preceded by protests by tribals against a drive by the state government to evict them from reserve forest areas.

    “What Manipur witnessed in the past few years was a highly coordinated assault on the rights and protections that tribals enjoyed under the constitution,” The ITLF statement read.

    More than 180 people have been killed and several hundreds injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

    Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.

    Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

    IMPHAL: The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an organisation of the Kuki-Zo community, on Tuesday alleged that Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has “instigated” the ethnic strife in the northeastern state which began in early May.

    Commenting on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark that Meiteis and Kukis, the two warring communities in the state, were living together for a long time, the ITLF asked why no clashes had taken place between the two sides before the present government started ruling the state in March 2017.

    Addressing the RSS Dussehra rally at Nagpur earlier in the day, Bhagwat said, “Who actually fuelled the conflict? It (violence) is not happening, it is being made to happen.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    In a statement, the ITLF alleged that the answer to his question is Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

    The tribal organisation also raised a series of questions on the Manipur situation such as why AFSPA was recently removed only in valley areas and not in hill districts.

    While the Meitis live mainly in the Imphal Valley, Kukis are in majority in hills districts.

    Another question raised by the ITLF is: “Why was the government notification of 1966 regarding ‘reserved’ and ‘protected’ forests under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 suddenly implemented in 2023?” 

    The strife in Manipur was preceded by protests by tribals against a drive by the state government to evict them from reserve forest areas.

    “What Manipur witnessed in the past few years was a highly coordinated assault on the rights and protections that tribals enjoyed under the constitution,” The ITLF statement read.

    More than 180 people have been killed and several hundreds injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

    Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.

    Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

  • Manipur: Kuki-Zo groups demand release of arrested tribals within 48 hours

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Kuki-Zo organisations in strife-torn Manipur registered a protest on Monday against the arrest of five tribals by central agencies and demanded their release within 48 hours.

    Normal life came to a grinding halt in the Kuki-majority hill district of Churachandpur during an indefinite shutdown which was called by some tribal organisations. All shops and business establishments remained shut while vehicles were off the road. 

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested four tribals, including two women, from Henglep in Churachandpur on Monday by intercepting a Bolero. The arrests were made in connection with the abduction and killing of two Meitei students. 

    Two minor girls – daughters of one of the arrested women and travelling in the vehicle – were also taken into custody. After the six persons were flown out of Manipur to Guwahati in Assam by the evening, the two children were handed over to the District Child Protection Officer, Kamrup Metro district in Guwahati for their care.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had also arrested another tribal in a case related to a transnational conspiracy by insurgent groups based in Myanmar and Bangladesh to wage a war against India by exploiting the unrest in Manipur.

    The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) condemned the “selective haste” of the central agencies in arresting the persons.

    “If the CBI can act with such swiftness, why has it not arrested anyone in more heinous cases, like the rape and murder of two tribal girls in Imphal, burning of a 7-year-old tribal boy along with his mother and aunt, torture and beheading of a tribal youth, and so many other acts of atrocities against tribals?” the ITLF asked.

    The CoTU condemned the CBI and the NIA for their alleged attempt to bring “one-sided” justice. The tribal organisation said it was “compelled to impose an emergency shutdown” on National Highway 37 – the lifeline of Manipur – till the authorities expedite the safe release of one of the “abducted” persons “Satthang Kipgen”.

    Further, the organisation served an “ultimatum” on the home ministry to direct the central agencies to release the arrested persons within 48 hours, initiate a probe against “Meitei criminals” and convict them for “natural justice”.

    GUWAHATI: Kuki-Zo organisations in strife-torn Manipur registered a protest on Monday against the arrest of five tribals by central agencies and demanded their release within 48 hours.

    Normal life came to a grinding halt in the Kuki-majority hill district of Churachandpur during an indefinite shutdown which was called by some tribal organisations. All shops and business establishments remained shut while vehicles were off the road. 

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested four tribals, including two women, from Henglep in Churachandpur on Monday by intercepting a Bolero. The arrests were made in connection with the abduction and killing of two Meitei students. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Two minor girls – daughters of one of the arrested women and travelling in the vehicle – were also taken into custody. After the six persons were flown out of Manipur to Guwahati in Assam by the evening, the two children were handed over to the District Child Protection Officer, Kamrup Metro district in Guwahati for their care.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had also arrested another tribal in a case related to a transnational conspiracy by insurgent groups based in Myanmar and Bangladesh to wage a war against India by exploiting the unrest in Manipur.

    The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) condemned the “selective haste” of the central agencies in arresting the persons.

    “If the CBI can act with such swiftness, why has it not arrested anyone in more heinous cases, like the rape and murder of two tribal girls in Imphal, burning of a 7-year-old tribal boy along with his mother and aunt, torture and beheading of a tribal youth, and so many other acts of atrocities against tribals?” the ITLF asked.

    The CoTU condemned the CBI and the NIA for their alleged attempt to bring “one-sided” justice. The tribal organisation said it was “compelled to impose an emergency shutdown” on National Highway 37 – the lifeline of Manipur – till the authorities expedite the safe release of one of the “abducted” persons “Satthang Kipgen”.

    Further, the organisation served an “ultimatum” on the home ministry to direct the central agencies to release the arrested persons within 48 hours, initiate a probe against “Meitei criminals” and convict them for “natural justice”.