Demand for ST status, Chinks in Biren’s armour and Army vs Police

The BJP in Manipur had gathered more MLAs belonging to other parties to join ranks with them either by joining the party or lending support to the extent that the treasury bench today has 55 members sitting in it against the five in the opposition belonging to the Congress and as such the threat is […]

The post Demand for ST status, Chinks in Biren’s armour and Army vs Police first appeared on The Frontier Manipur.

The BJP in Manipur had gathered more MLAs belonging to other parties to join ranks with them either by joining the party or lending support to the extent that the treasury bench today has 55 members sitting in it against the five in the opposition belonging to the Congress and as such the threat is not real.

By Yambem Laba

The movement for inclusion of the Meetei Tribe in the Scheduled List of tribes of India got a major fillip when the Manipur High Court gave a directive to the Manipur state government to give a response to the query from the Centre pending since 2013. The reply is to be given in one month’s time. The directive came after a petition by the Meetei Tribes Union, Manipur. It might be recalled that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs of the Government of India had sought the recommendation of the Manipur state government to enlist the Meitei in the ST List on 29 May 2013. In that letter, the Union Tribal Ministry had sought a report on the ethnographic and socio-economic survey of the Meitieis but had sat on it.

The Scheduled Demand Committee Manipur (STDCM), who had been in the forefront of the movement for the last 20 years or so, had welcomed the High Court’s directive which was arrived at by a single bench of the Manipur High Court of Acting Chief Justice M V Muralidharan. The STDCM had also garnered signatures of almost all the MLAs of the valley where the Meiteis reside. A Writ of Mandamus was filed by Mutum Churamani, secretary of the Meitei Tribes Union and seven others of the Union against the state of Manipur.

According to the petition, it was asserted that the Census carried by the Government of India since 2011 had been classifying Meeteis as a Tribe of the State and it was thus till Manipur’s merger with the Indian Union on 21 September 1949. Ajoy Pebam, the counsel for the petitioners, argued that the Meeteis lost the tribal tag after signing the Merger Agreement in 1949 and restoration of the status is imperative to preserve the ancestral land, traditions and culture. Various documentary references were annexed to the petition asserting that the Meeteis are still a tribe as per Articles 342(1) and 366(19), and 230(25) of the Indian Constitution and unfortunately, the Meeteis were left out while preparing the ST list under Article 342 of the Constitution, he added. He also added that the Chongthu, Khoibu and Mate tribes were classified as Scheduled Tribes of the Union as per an order of the Gauhati High Court dated 26 May 2003.

Appearing on behalf of the Government of India, the Deputy Solicitor General of India also conceded that the Meeteis lost their tribal status after the state’s merger with the Indian Union. The Court also observed that the Meitei Tribe Union had also submitted a representation to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs on 18 April 2022 to include the Meeteis in the ST list and the Ministry had forwarded the same to Chief Secretary and again it was swept under the carpet. At this juncture, the counsel for the petitioners asserted that the continued silence of the successive state governments were tantamount to violation of the Right to Equality and Right to Life with Dignity which are enshrined under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

The Court also observed that the state had not given any satisfactory explanation for not submitting the recommendations which the Centre has been seeking for the last 10 years.

Apart from the STDCM and the Meitei Tribe Union, the World Meitei Council and the Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL) had been vociferously demanding for the inclusion of the Meeteis in the ST List. The KKL had gone one step further and asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to decide on the ST Status of the Meeteis before signing the final accord with the rebel Nagas viz the NSCN(I-M) and others.

It should also be on record that whilst the Constitution was being prepared, the then Constituent Assembly of India had deputed the late Gopinath Bordoloi of Assam and Stanley Nicholas Roy of the then Khasi and Jaintia Hills (now Meghalaya) to Manipur to seek the views of the Meeteis on the question of being included in the ST list. They, however, did not meet the public, but had just met three personalities, two Meitei Brahmins amongst them. They were Dwijamani Dev Sharma, Krishna Mohan Singh and another one, who were fanatical Hindus. They asserted that the Hindus, who are the descendants of the Aryans, be classified as Tribals. This is how the Meeteis had missed the bus in 1950 when India adopted the Constitution.

However, it needs to be pointed out that the then RK Ranbir government in 1991 had imposed prohibition in Manipur following a ban on sale of liquor in Manipur by the proscribed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur. Likewise, the reluctance of the successive governments of Manipur, beginning from 2013 till now, must have been reluctant to forward the recommendation of the inclusion of the Meeteis in the ST list because of the opposition of the outlawed and oldest insurgent group in Manipur, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), had been against the idea of the Meeteis being classified as a Scheduled Tribe. They first launched their tirade through their Students and Civil Society Organisations who are their fronts in the public.

Five years ago, I was summoned to the CHQ of the UNLF in Myanmar as I had been quite vocal and had written in favour of the demand of the STDCM. I was asked to explain my position on it. When asked as to whether they had openly declared their stance against it, the reply was “No”. Then the issue was settled – if one can assume that statements issued by their fronts can be assumed to be that of the UNLF. Then my interrogators remained silent. Two years later, the UNLF in their annual statement announced the UNLF’s stance against the demand of the Meeties of being classified as a Scheduled Tribe as it negates the existence of Manipur, particularly the Meeteis’ 2000 years of existence as a nation state and civilisation. The suzerainty of the Meitei Kings had once upon a time spanned from the banks of the Chindwin in Myanmar to that of the Surma in present day Bangladesh. But after joining India, the Meeteis are now confined to a mere 9 per cent of the state’s total geographical area. Their future is bleak as they cannot settle down in the remaining 90 per cent of the state’s area which are scheduled tribal lands belonging to the various scheduled tribes of Manipur while the reverse is not true. However, the question is, if the Biren Government is not afraid to defy the PLAs diktat of prohibition and had recently lifted prohibition from Manipur, why it is afraid to stand against the UNLF stance against the ST tag for the Meeteis. But now with the directive from the High Court, the reply might be coming shortly.

CHINKS IN CM BIREN’S ARMOUR

While pondering over the High Court’s directive, the Biren Ministry received a jolt. It began with former minister and now MLA from the Heirok Assembly Constituency and Advisor to the Chief Minister Th Radheshyam resigning from his post, citing lack of any responsibility being given to him. He said he did not know how to answer the questions raised by his supporters when they urged him to take up an issue with the CM. He also said that while the CM was talking about environmental protection, his own younger brother was allegedly involved in timber trade. His move was followed by former minister and MLA from Langthabal Assembly Constituency and Chairman of the Manipur Tourism Corporation Karam Shyam Singh, who also resigned from his post.

He also cited not being not only being given any responsibilities and power, and of being humiliated publicly on numerous occasions by the Chief Minister. Then the third to throw in his towel was Paonam Brojen from Wangjing Assembly Constituency and was holding the post of Chairman of the Manipur Development Society (MDS). He went public as to how the Chief Minister had dumped him after, upon his advice, his workers were made to engage in road constructions in his constituency. Then suddenly, he was informed that the work orders for the already constructed works had been cancelled. His workers, having expended about Rs 6 crore in the process, are now fuming and Brojen now says that he is not able to stay at his home as he cannot face his workers and give them an explanation.

According to sources, there are about 15 BJP MLAs reportedly camping in Delhi demanding the replacement of N Biren Singh as the Chief Minister. Although the BJP returned 32 in the House of 60 at the last hustings, only six MLAs out of the 32 when Biren Singh was elected as the leader of the BJP Legislative Party last year. BJP Big-wig Sambit Patra had orchestrated the drama and he had reportedly/allegedly asked Govindas Konthoujam, who had joined the BJP after having resigned as the President of the Congress in Manipur, on the eve of the elections last year to propose Biren Singh’s name as the leader. Then another tribal MLA seconded the proposal and he became Chief Minister.

The BJP on the other hand had gathered more MLAs belonging to other parties to join ranks with them either by joining the BJP or lending support to the extent that the treasury bench today has 55 members sitting in it against the five in the opposition belonging to the Congress and as such the threat is not real. But the fact remains that dissent within the Party has already surfaced against the Chief Minister and it is a point to be noted.

ARMY VERSUS POLICE

In the meantime, one Manipuri army officer Major Thokchom Bhagatjit Singh belonging to 2nd Madras Regiment had posted on social media remarks critical of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. His elders back home, aware of the sensitivity of CM Biren on social media posts, had advised him to delete his post. CM Biren had earlier slapped the National Security Act on numerous occasions for such posts criticising him or his government directly or indirectly. So the young Major deleted the post from the account which was opened under another name and he returned home on leave. That was when the Sekmai Police of the Imphal West District came and picked him upon intimation from the Cyber Crime unit of the Manipur Police. This arrest was made properly as an arrest memo was issued and an FIR registered and he was produced before the Magistrate 24 hours after he was taken into custody. This was on 13 April, earlier this month. Then on the same day, one Md. Aksar Ali, president of the BJP’s Minority Morcha, filed another complaint against the Major at the Porompat Police Station in Imphal East. He was again arrested, but this time no arrest memos were issued and no FIR was lodged, yet he was kept in the lockup for 18 hours. That was when the army stepped in and they came to the Porompat Police Station and told the police that they can arrest an army man on charges of rape, murder or culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and not for any charges including posts on social media. The police then made a hasty retreat. The officer may be facing a court of inquiry from his commanding officer but not from the police or civil court.

The CM apparently has an army of cyber warriors who will troll anyone posting against him or the government on social media. But this time it had bitten off more than it could chew, it seems.

(The writer is a senior journalist at The Statesman. This article was first published by The Statesman. All opinions expressed here are the writer’s own and do not represent the views of TFM)

The post Demand for ST status, Chinks in Biren’s armour and Army vs Police first appeared on The Frontier Manipur.

Read more / Original news source: https://thefrontiermanipur.com/demand-for-st-status-chinks-in-birens-armour-and-army-vs-police/

World’s oldest Parliamentarian

Rishang Keishing, who expired in Imphal on 22 August, at the age of 98, was elected to India’s first Parliament in 1952. He entered politics without any political background — he was a former school headmaster. He contested the elections on a Socialist Party ticket, lured by the voice of stalwarts like Ram Manohar Lohia and others.

The post World’s oldest Parliamentarian appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Rishang Keishing, who expired in Imphal on 22 August, at the age of 98, was elected to India’s first Parliament in 1952. He entered politics without any political background — he was a former school headmaster. He contested the elections on a Socialist Party ticket, lured by the voice of stalwarts like Ram Manohar Lohia and others.

The post World’s oldest Parliamentarian appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Read more / Original news source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/worlds-oldest-parliamentarian/

No To Oil Exploration in Manipur

By: Yambem Laba Manipur is said to be sitting on a massive oil belt, estimated at some eight trillion cubic feet and also has huge reserves of natural gas. A good reason for the people to rejoice as when oil starts flowing, it is bound to usher in an era of rapid development and prosperity […]

By: Yambem Laba Manipur is said to be sitting on a massive oil belt, estimated at some eight trillion cubic feet and also has huge reserves of natural gas. A good reason for the people to rejoice as when oil starts flowing, it is bound to usher in an era of rapid development and prosperity […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/08/no-to-oil-exploration-in-manipur/

Waiting for justice

July has a special significance for human rights activists in Manipur. It was in July 2004 that 12 elderly Manipuri women leaders stripped themselves naked in front of the Assam Rifles Centre at Kangla with a placard that read, “Indian Army Rape Us”. That followed the arrest and killing of a suspected woman cadre of a rebel group by personnel of the 7 Bn Assam Rifles.

The post Waiting for justice appeared first on The Sangai Express.

July has a special significance for human rights activists in Manipur. It was in July 2004 that 12 elderly Manipuri women leaders stripped themselves naked in front of the Assam Rifles Centre at Kangla with a placard that read, “Indian Army Rape Us”. That followed the arrest and killing of a suspected woman cadre of a rebel group by personnel of the 7 Bn Assam Rifles.

The post Waiting for justice appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Read more / Original news source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/waiting-for-justice/

No alternative to co-existence

Yambem Laba (Courtesy: The Statesman) If Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh is on a mission to appease the Nagas, he seems to be making some progress in easing the otherwise strained relations between the Naga communities of Manipur and Nagaland and the Manipur Government. Some years ago, the apex body of the Nagas in […]

Yambem Laba (Courtesy: The Statesman) If Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh is on a mission to appease the Nagas, he seems to be making some progress in easing the otherwise strained relations between the Naga communities of Manipur and Nagaland and the Manipur Government. Some years ago, the apex body of the Nagas in […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/05/no-alternative-to-co-existence/

Curses come home to roost

Sometime in 2010, three former cadres of the Manipur’s People’s Liberation Army were “recruited” by 3 Corps of the Indian Army based at Rangapahar near Dimapur (Nagaland), under its intelligence and surveillance unit that reports to its General Officer Commanding. The three had apparently been used by this “cloak and dagger” unit for activities that […]

Sometime in 2010, three former cadres of the Manipur’s People’s Liberation Army were “recruited” by 3 Corps of the Indian Army based at Rangapahar near Dimapur (Nagaland), under its intelligence and surveillance unit that reports to its General Officer Commanding. The three had apparently been used by this “cloak and dagger” unit for activities that […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/04/curses-come-home-to-roost/

Last ray of hope

(Courtesy The Statesman) Yambem Laba United Naga Council general secretary, S Milan, says that the core issue behind the economic blockade it has imposed in Manipur has never been understood, even by the media. Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has a history of jumping guns. In 2004,he could not wait for then Prime Minister […]

(Courtesy The Statesman) Yambem Laba United Naga Council general secretary, S Milan, says that the core issue behind the economic blockade it has imposed in Manipur has never been understood, even by the media. Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has a history of jumping guns. In 2004,he could not wait for then Prime Minister […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2017/02/last-ray-of-hope/

Manipur’s other ‘Iron Lady’

Yambem Laba (Courtesy: The Statesman) In the 2012 Manipur assembly election,when Chief Minister Ibobi Singh decided to contest from two constituencies — his own Khangabok and Thoubal — he was at the pinnacle of his chequered career that began as a petty contractor. His greatest deed of bravery was to successfully prevent NSCN(IM) general-secretary Th […]

Yambem Laba (Courtesy: The Statesman) In the 2012 Manipur assembly election,when Chief Minister Ibobi Singh decided to contest from two constituencies — his own Khangabok and Thoubal — he was at the pinnacle of his chequered career that began as a petty contractor. His greatest deed of bravery was to successfully prevent NSCN(IM) general-secretary Th […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/11/manipurs-other-iron-lady/

The avowed intent of CorCom

By Yambem Laba (Special arrangement) In 1976, when Nameirakpam Bisheswar and 18 other youths took the long route to Lhasa via Gorakhpur on the Indo-Nepalese border and then to Mustang on the Sino-Nepalese border and received training in ideology as well as guerrilla warfare from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and returned home to Manipur […]

By Yambem Laba (Special arrangement) In 1976, when Nameirakpam Bisheswar and 18 other youths took the long route to Lhasa via Gorakhpur on the Indo-Nepalese border and then to Mustang on the Sino-Nepalese border and received training in ideology as well as guerrilla warfare from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and returned home to Manipur […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/06/the-avowed-intent-of-corcom/

Hospital with a difference

Forty-four km due south from Imphal and about three kilometres off National Highway 39 that leads to Myanmar at Kakching lies the Anandsingh Yoga and Nature Cure Research Hospital. Managed by the Kha Manipur Yoga and Nature Cure Association, the hospital in itself is a small 10-bed affair. But it is here that “miracles” are performed for those affected by paralysis,

The post Hospital with a difference appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Forty-four km due south from Imphal and about three kilometres off National Highway 39 that leads to Myanmar at Kakching lies the Anandsingh Yoga and Nature Cure Research Hospital. Managed by the Kha Manipur Yoga and Nature Cure Association, the hospital in itself is a small 10-bed affair. But it is here that “miracles” are performed for those affected by paralysis,

The post Hospital with a difference appeared first on The Sangai Express.

Read more / Original news source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/hospital-with-a-difference/

Guru Ravi Shankar met Meghen in Guwahati to propose peace negotiations

By Yambem Laba (By special arrangement with The Statesman) GUWAHATI, April 27: R.K.Meghen former Chairman of the proscribed United National Liberation Front of Manipur currently lodged in Guwahati Central Jail today told this correspondent in an exclus…

By Yambem Laba (By special arrangement with The Statesman) GUWAHATI, April 27: R.K.Meghen former Chairman of the proscribed United National Liberation Front of Manipur currently lodged in Guwahati Central Jail today told this correspondent in an exclusive interview at the NIA Court where his trial is going on, that Guru Ravi Shankar of the Art

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/04/guru-ravi-shankar-met-meghen-in-guwahati-to-propose-peace-negotiations/

Manipur: The alien bogey & Ibobi`s predicament

The post Manipur: The alien bogey & Ibobi`s predicament appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.By Yambem Laba   The foreigners’ problem in the state was first raised by the All Manipur Students’ Union in 1980, taking a cue from the All Assa…

The post Manipur: The alien bogey & Ibobi`s predicament appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

By Yambem Laba   The foreigners’ problem in the state was first raised by the All Manipur Students’ Union in 1980, taking a cue from the All Assam Students’ Union. The seeds of Manipuri discord over losing indigenous identity were … Continue reading

The post Manipur: The alien bogey & Ibobi`s predicament appeared first on  KanglaOnline.com.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/07/the-alien-bogey-ibobis-predicament-manipur-innerlinepermit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-alien-bogey-ibobis-predicament-manipur-innerlinepermit

A Functional Anarchy Called Manipur


by Yambem Laba BY definition, Manipur has been called a “failed state”. Personally, I prefer… more »


by Yambem Laba
BY definition, Manipur has been called a “failed state”. Personally, I prefer the term “functional anarchy” because, going by the events of the day, Manipur should have ceased to exist amidst the chaos and confusion that prevails at the moment. But life seems to go on as though things are normal. How does one exist in a situation where onions costs Rs 60 a kg, potatoes Rs 40 a kg, eggs are pegged at six rupees apiece, petrol costs Rs 150 a litre and an LPG cylinder sells for a “mere” Rs 2000? The going rate for a sub-inspector’s post in the police department is Rs 25-30 lakh and a supervisor’s post in the social welfare department is said to be available at Rs 30 lakh. Everything is available in the state provided you have the purchasing power, to use economic jargon. Manipur is also said to be the place where money pours through many pores.

From “Switzerland of the East’, it graduated to “Bandhpur” and now it can aptly be called “Blockadepur”. There are two blockades running concurrently in Manipur — an economic one called by the Kukis in demand for a separate Sadar Hills District and a counter-blockade called by the Nagas opposing the creation of the Sadar Hills district. Strategically, the battle for the creation of the new district and those opposing it are being fought on three national highways that connect Manipur with the mainland. The first, National Highway No. 39, connects the state with Dimapur in Nagaland and Moreh on the India-Myanmar border; the second, National Highway No. 53, connects Imphal with Silchar in Assam; and the third is National Highway No. 150 that connects Imphal with Nagaland via Jessami in Ukhrul district.

The writ of the Sadar Hills wallahs ends at Kangpokpi, some 45 km north of Imphal on NH-39, from where on it is in the hands of the Naga opposers; and on NH-53 it ends 40 km from Imphal at Tupul and thereafter it is Naga territory till it tapers down to Jiribam on the border with Assam, where another blockade is in the offing, thanks to the demand for a separate Jiribam district. On NH-150, the Nagas have almost full sway all the way through.

The Manipur government seems to have abandoned NH-39 to the protagonists of the new district and those opposing it, as the only bid to break the blockade has been to deploy the Assam Rifles, whom the protesters have accused of bringing in goods meant for civilian consumption under the guise of requirements for the Army. This led to a major confrontation at Kangpokpi on 6 September where some nine fully laden trucks were reduced to cinders and the Assam Rifles ultimately resorted to a baton-charge that left 56 women protesters injured. The state has been concentrating on NH-53, commandeering some 500-700 trucks to ply along it with security escorts. But the Nagas have been able to ambush a few trucks, leading to the truckers refusing to ply along NH-53 because of “inadequate security cover”. They even pointed out that miscreants armed with sophisticated weapons and apparently “belonging” to the counter-blockade wallahs were behind the ambushes.

Theoretically, the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee hinges its drive for a separate district on the full implementation of the Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council Act, 1971, (Parliament Act No.76 of 1971). The Sadar Hills has an autonomous district council with an additional deputy commissioner in charge of the area, but technically it forms part of Naga-dominated Senapati district, although in the Sadar Hills area the Kukis are in a majority. Practically, the Nagas see this as a major threat to their dream of a greater Nagalim or the alternate administrative arrangement they are demanding from the Centre for the Naga areas of Manipur. That is why the NSCN(I-M) ambushed Phungyar legislator Wunoshang Keishing of Ukhrul for demanding a separate Phungyar district. Some six of his security escort party were killed earlier this year but he miraculously survived.

Former home secretary GK Pillai was in Imphal the other day and he said the National Highways were the Centre’s responsibility, but one can forget about New Delhi noticing the happenings in Manipur. Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh was likened to Nero fiddling as Rome burned, as he went off on a jaunt to Japan, an extended tour of Europe on the cards. But apparently he had to return post haste from Tokyo upon the Union home ministry’s directive. BJP national spokesman Prakash Jadavedkar was in Imphal too, and he demanded President’s Rule be imposed in Manipur, citing the failure of the state to open up the highways and curtail the runaway inflation that is now plaguing Manipur.

At the height of the Naga-Kuki conflict in the early 1990s, I was asked to define the situation. I had then said that both sides were mad but the Nagas had a method in their madness while the Kukis had none. This was aptly demonstrated when the Sadar Hills wallahs called for a month-long general strike along NH-39, bottling up thousands of ordinary Manipuris who leave the state every day by bus. Mercifully, the general strike has been lifted but a lot of goodwill has been lost in the process. This was coupled with not allowing life-saving medicines in and even ambulances to ply, resulting in hospitals closing down their intensive care units and postponing operations.

The last straw entailed the leadership of the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee issuing a “call to arms” to its supporters. “The decision of the SHDCC is legitimised by the village chiefs and therefore the people must stand by the decision of the demand committee. We must be ready with any weapon grade objects at our disposal,” read a statement issued by the committee, advising people to stock up essential commodities and food for at least two months, adding that “we are prepared for the worst”.

This was something the Ibobi government could not ignore. At a Cabinet meeting  held on 13 September, it decided to file FIRs against the leaders of the SHDCC. The Cabinet also issued directives to the state home department to seize the thousands of licensed guns in the hands of the people of the Sadar Hills area. Whether such directives would amount to wishful thinking or not is yet to be seen, but in the meantime I have started using wood to cook my food.
The writer is The Statesman’s former Imphal-based Special Correspondent.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/a-functional-anarchy-called-manipur/