What has been witnessed in Manipur over the past few days is extremely unfortunate and should be controlled immediately to prevent further loss of lives and property. It is reported that several houses have been burned down and thousands of people displaced, though the details of casualties and injuries are not fully ascertained yet. Throwing light on the gravity of the situation, the governor of Manipur has authorised district magistrates to issue ‘shoot at sight’ orders if all forms of persuasion, warning and reasonable force are exhausted and the situation can’t be controlled. The Centre has deployed several columns of Indian army and Assam Rifles in violence-hit districts including Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Bishnupur and Imphal areas to contain spiraling violence, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah is said to have spoken to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and taken stock of the situation. The chief minister of the state also has appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace, saying that “pre
cious lives have been lost, besides damage of properties, which is very unfortunate”. The current volatile situation in the state calls for the governments (both central and state), civil society organisations, political parties, community leaders and individuals to put their heads together to regain normalcy at the earliest before addressing the issues at hand. Political parties should not politicise the situation to score brownie points. This is also not time to play blame game and incite the public with inflammatory speeches and rumours. It is time to connect with the people and stop further violence.
The state government should focus on evacuating people stranded in various parts of the state and maintain law and order. The law enforcing agencies should not allow the public to take law into their own hands, as was witnessed on Wednesday despite curfew being imposed in eight districts. Once normalcy is regained, the state government and the aggrieved communities can solve the issues across the table. Though violence erupted during the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) in all hill districts inhabited by Nagas, Kukis and other tribal communities to protest the demand of the Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe status, tension appeared to be building up days prior to it in some areas. The CM had to cancel his scheduled visit to Churachandpur amid a bandh called by Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) to protest the eviction of Kuki villagers from protected forests. Considering the sensitivity of the matter, the state government should address the apprehensions of
the hill people, including land rights of tribals and pave the way for peaceful co-existence of different communities. People from hill districts drastically reduced bandhs, protests and other forms of agitation after the BJP-led coalition came to power in the state. Many credited it to ‘inclusive approach’ of the Biren Singh government, which launched “Go to hills” outreach campaign. This hard-earned trust should be rebuilt through accommodative policy.
