Civil societies pressuring locals, inciting ethnic tensions: Supreme Court appointed panel on Manipur Violence aftermath

The Supreme Court committee appointed to oversee the ongoings in violence-hit Manipur has submitted two reports flagging the “pressure” exerted by “civil society organisations” on next of kin to not accept mortal remains of their loved ones..In its 13th report, a copy of which has been accessed by Bar & Bench, the committee headed by former Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal stated,“The committee has been informed that though most of the next of kin were willing to accept the dead bodies for performing the last rites, there is tremendous pressure upon them from civil society organisations active in the state not to accept the bodies or perform last rites.”.The report goes on to accuse some elements of wanting to keep Manipur in a state of chaos, and that accurate information on the situation was not being given to the Supreme Court."Apprehension was also expressed that there are elements interested in maintenance of tensions between the communities and preventing restoration of peace and harmony in the State. For this reason, the true and correct facts of the matter are also not being placed before this Hon'ble Court.".Significantly, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Manipur government to ensure decent and dignified burial of unidentified and unclaimed bodies of those who died in the violence.The committee, on the other hand, has pointed out that that civil societies were opposed to the performing of last rites on account of “vested interests” and “derive mileage” and “compel authorities to meet unwanted demands”. “Unfortunately, the civil society organisations, instead, are insisting on burying the bodies at unsuitable spots in a collective burial which would serve as a source for constant mounting of tensions between the communities in Manipur and preventing restoration of normalcy,” the report added..According to a statement made in the Supreme Court, the Manipur Tribals' Forum, which is one of the parties in the matter, wanted to bury the bodies in a mass grave according to the Kuki tradition..The report found the methods of protest in the riot-hit State as “distressing” after it saw that civil society organisations had placed 50 coffins outside the office of Deputy Commissioner in Churachandpur. “This office is the most important office in the district and has an extremely heavy footfall of members of the public as well as the officials from the district. This form of protest is a constant source of deep pain and agony for those who have lost their near and dear ones in the unfortunate violence…The display of coffins is providing a never-ending instigation of angst and tensions for the inhabitants of the district,” the panel revealed. .Law governing last rites in such casesSection 160 of the Manipur Municipalities Act, 1994, empowers the local civc body to carry out burials or burning of the poor and unclaimed dead bodies. This, the law directs, will be done “free of charge, within the limits of the municipality or otherwise arrange to dispose of as it thinks fit”.In addition, Section 161 of the Act, empowers the municipal body to perform last rites according to a deceased’s religious tenets. “After the expiration of not less than twenty-four hours from the death of any person, the Nagar Panchayat or as the case may be, council may cause the corpse of such person to be burnt or buried, and the expenses thereby incurred shall be recoverable as a debt due from the estate of such person. In every such case, the corpse shall be disposed of, so far as may be possible in manner consistent with the religious tenets of the deceased,” it states.Referring to these provisions, the panel, therefore, argued that “failure to perform the last rites of the deceased in a dignified manner” would amount to disrespect besides preserving the mortal remains had exerted “huge strain” on the “already stretched” state resources. .The committee’s 14th report similarly underlined that the State government had decided to pay an ex gratia compensation of ₹10 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. However, some were reluctant to accept the same, owing to the influence of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), Joint Philanthropic Organisations (JPO), Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) and other civil society groups..Of the 169 deceased who had been identified, payments were made with respect to 73 such persons. However, of the remaining 58 cases, 38 weren’t willing to receive the payment, it added.“Unfortunately, on account of pressure from civil society organisations, which include the ITLF, JPO, KIM, etc., the remaining 38 families have expressed unwillingness to receive the ex-gratia," the report claims.As a result, the panel recommended that the apex court direct the 38 families to accept the ex-gratia.“Prohibit the civil society organisation from interfering with an/or obstructing the next of kin in accepting the ex-gratia amounts,” it sought further. .On Tuesday, keeping in mind the recommendations and other relevant factors, the Supreme Court issued a slew of directions, including,“All the next of kin of the bodies, which have been identified and claimed, would be permitted to carry out last rites at any of the identified nine burial sites without any interference by any party whatsoever.”Senior Advocate Vibha Datta Makhija is representing the committee along with Advocate-on-Record Baani Khanna.Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Standing Counsel, represented State of Manipur.