Central government assurances on Manipur Violence empty; BJP-backed communal groups attacking tribals: Manipur Tribal Forum to Supreme Court

The Manipur Tribal Forum has told the Supreme Court that the Central government's assurances to the top court in the case concerning the recent outbreak of violence in Manipur are false and non-serious..In a fresh interlocutory application (IA) filed on June 9, the tribal welfare body alleged that since the last hearing of the issue in apex court, 81 more persons belonging to the Kuki tribe have been killed and 31,410 Kukis displaced. Further, 237 churches and 73 administrative quarters have been torched and 141 villages destroyed, the Court was told."The assurances of the authorities are not useful anymore and made in a non-serious fashion and are not even intended to be implemented. The reason why this hon’ble court ought not to rely anymore on the empty assurances given by UOI (Union of India) is because both the UOI and the Chief Minister of the State have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis," the forum submitted.It stressed that the media coverage portraying the violence as a clash between two tribal communities is far from the truth. The attackers are backed by the ruling party in power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the forum has contended. "Such a narrative misses the fact that the two communities have co-existed for a long time despite their sometime deep-rooted differences and, secondly, that the unique situation presently existing is of a couple of armed communal groups linked to the party in power in the State, carrying out a predesigned communal attack on the tribals. The 'clash' narrative camouflages the presence of these two groups behind all the attacks and renders them immune from prosecution thereby emboldening them to carry on further attacks," the forum said.Therefore, without such groups being arrested and prosecuted, 'any semblance of peace will be fragile', the application added.Pertinently, the application flagged the involvement of top politicians and drug kin-pins in poppy cultivations that are dependent on tribal workers. "Since the last decade or so, the emergence of powerful drugs mafias took control of the drug trade in Manipur. Without specifically naming the drug lords or the communities they come from, and only by way of a sample, one prominent drug lord is a relative of the former Chief Minister of Manipur. The other prominent drug lord is a relative of the present Chief Minister," the forum alleged. Politicians who double up as drug lords, along with middlemen, are the masterminds and beneficiaries of such a trade, it was stated. Further, they make harmful allegations against tribal cultivators, the forum added. .The forum was among the parties who had moved the top court seeking directions to the Central and State governments to evacuate Manipuri Tribals who had fled to CRPF camps and to ensure that they reach their residences safely under a security escort.On May 8, the Manipur government assured the Supreme Court that concerns regarding the ongoing violence will be addressed and remedial measures will be taken on a proactive basis.The Court had then called for due arrangements to be made in relief camps and for necessary precautions to be taken to rehabilitate displaced persons and to protect places of religious worship..The Union Home Ministry had later constituted a committee led by former Gauhati High Court Chief Justice, Ajay Lamba, to probe the matter. The forum in its IA submitted that this arrangement is unacceptable as it was done without consulting the tribal groups who are the victims."It is also unacceptable because the UOI itself is accused of conspiring with the state government in arming and protecting the two communal organizations Armabai and Meiteis Leepun that carried out the Attacks on the tribal ... What is required is not a commission of inquiry that will do the biding of ‘his master’s voice’ but an independent investigation by officers from outside the State of Manipur," the application stated. The forum added that if a commission of inquiry is to be constituted, the present one ought to quashed and replaced by a single-member commission comprising former Delhi High Court Chief Justice and Law Commission chairperson, AP Shah.Pertinently, the application also called for the Indian Army to take full control of the law and order situation in the districts of Churachanpur, Chandel, Kangpokpi, Impal East and Imphal West, and all villages.It further called for the constitution of an SIT headed by former Assam police chief, Harekrishna Deka and for the same to be monitored by former Tripura High Court Chief Justice, Tinlianthang Vaiphei. An ex-gratia payment of ₹2 crore to the kin of those killed from May 3 onwards has also been sought within three months, along with permanent government jobs, necessary aid and immediate reconstruction of damaged homes and institutions.Moreover, the Court has been urged to direct the Union government to immediately bring a sufficient number of doctors to Manipur to carry out all pending post-mortems immediately, and to have the Army provide security in this regard so that evidence is not destroyed and families may identify and collect bodies for last rites..The forum's IA was filed through advocate Satya Mitra and drawn by advocates Hetvi Patel and Kaoliangpou Kamei.