Tribes in Tension: an Ethnic Quandary Sweeps Through Manipur

Manipur is now going through something that has never been seen before in the seven sisters in India. 

Manipur's population is made up of 53% of the Meitei community, mainly concentrated in the Imphal area. Another 40% is made up of the Naga and Kuki Tribes, residing in the hilly regions of Manipur.

The Meitei

On 20th April 2023, The Manipur High Court suggested that the Meitei people can be considered as a part of the scheduled tribes. This is because the Meitei people say that illegal immigrants and refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar come into the North East region of the country and in Manipur, snatching away the land, jobs, and resources of the Meitei people living as a minority community in their own state. They say that being on the Scheduled tribes' list will help them get jobs, education, etc, in reservation quotas which will help them protect their culture better.

The Naga and Kuki

Let's rewind to February 2023 to understand what actually happened. The BJP State Government executed an eviction drive to clear the forest land of encroachers which turned violent as opposed by the Naga and Kukis. In April, 3 churches in Manipur were destructed by the Manipal government, and then because of the Manipur High Court's statement regarding the Meitei community, the Naga and Kuki people were enraged. On 27th April 2023, a fire was set to an open gym that was to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister the following day.

Then what happened?

Section 144 was imposed and people were asked to be peaceful, and not gather in large groups, and curfews were imposed in eight districts of Manipur.

Then, on 3rd May, after this curfew, the All Tribal Student Union, Manipur took up in the Tribal Solidarity March to oppose the inclusion of the Meiteis among the scheduled tribes, ad more than 60000 people took part in this rally.

While the rally took place, a rumor spread among the people in the rally, that the Meitei community set fire to a tribal village in Churachandpur, and so the rally protestors started setting fire to the nearby Meitei settlements.

After this incident there were many clashes between the Meitei and other people, and. there have been videos uploaded with protestors having AK47 weapons.

When these clashes got worse, the state approached the army for help, the internet was suspended in many areas, and the army was even given shoot-at-sight orders in extreme cases.

Manipur became a part of India in 1949, the Meitei people at that time were kept out of the scheduled tribes list. The high court has now advised that they may be considered, according to a petition filed in 2012.

So, because of the court statement, will they get all their privileges immediately? No, They have to follow an entire process which is really a very long and exhausting process, and they can be challenged legally at any point.

The Meitei people say that the Kuki population is growing immensely, which won't be possible unless an influx of illegal immigrants merging with them, resulting in higher poppy and opium plantations and hence increasing the already threatening drug problem in Manipur.

But the Naga and Kuki say that the Meitei people already have a larger population and better political representation, and hence if they have an ST status, then they will get a lot of privileges, and nothing will be left for the Naga and Kuki. They also say that the Meitei people have already achieved the OBC status, then why do they need the ST status?

This is an extremely important matter, but let's understand the history between the tribes.

The Kuki and Meitei were initially very good friends, set up by the British to help out each other.

In 1762, when the British were colonizing India, Manipur faced attacks from the Naga tribe in the Bordering areas, and from Myanmar (Burma) as well. For protection, the king sought the help of the British who introduced the Kuki tribe to the Meitei to help them out. Even though the British then formed a protectorate system, and even made a 5-year-old child the king and ruled through him.

But due to less connectivity because of the chicken neck connecting the central regions of India and the Northeast, even the British couldn't establish full control. so they pushed the Naga and Kuki tribes to the outer hill and forest areas and gave Meitei the center.

Then, the British needed soldiers, and the Naga tribe helped them, but Kuki refused, they were attacked, and forced deeper into the forest regions. Now, the reality of the demographics is that the Meitei people (53%) take up to 10% of Manipur land (the urban part) and the Kuki (28%) share the rest 90% with the Naga tribe.

When India gained its independence, there were violent debates on the future of Manipur. The Nagas wanted a different country, the Kuki a different state, and for the Metiei it was their identity, but their demands were ignored and nothing worked out.

How does Religion play a part?

The Meitei are mostly Hindu Vaishnavites, and the Naga and Kuki are Christians.

Under the Land Revenue and Land Reform Act, of 1960, the Meitei was not allowed to buy land in the Tribal reserved outer regions, but Kuki and Naga were allowed to buy land in the valley. So the Meitei people protested that just because they are Hindus and their ancestors ruled Manipur, why are they being shown such injustice?

This is an internal matter for India, but then how did the protestors get weapons such as Ak47? It certainly can't be from India since Manipur's railway infrastructure is close to nothing, and almost all the roads and highways have been blocked such that not even food and medicines are getting past let alone weapons.

We don't know if the videos of the protestors having weapons were fabricated, but if they are real then the weapons had to have been smuggled from outside the country. The border of Manipur is shared by Myanmar, and another possibility could be possible from Bangladesh. But Myanmar has a civil war going on, and does Bangladesh have the funds? Is there another country playing a more powerful role behind this? Are they trying to blow up the issue for their own benefit?

That could be the case, even Pakistan has not failed to take up and spread propaganda that Manipur wants to separate from India.

So what is really happening here?

Different people have different views. Some say that the Meitei attached first and some say it was the Naga and Kuki who did. But it is impossible to know the truth without official police reports.

This article has been written on the basis of understanding content from different reliable sources such as Indian Express, Economic Times, Times of India, etc, but may also contain inaccurate information, which may be conveyed through wrong information or misunderstandings and is not to offend or direct insensitivity or blame towards government, entity or individual.