A curfew was imposed in 9 out of 16 districts in Manipur and over 9,000 people have been displaced amid violence between tribal and non-tribal groups in the northeastern state.
As the violence continued to rage on Thursday, the Manipur government issued shoot-at-sight orders in extreme cases where “all forms of persuasion, warning, reasonable force, etc have been exhausted.”
There was no official confirmation of the number of people killed or injured in the violence, but Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh admitted that “some precious lives were lost”.
During the solidarity march organized by the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur, clashes erupted on Wednesday. The protesters, who are mainly from the Kuki-Zomi tribal group belonging to Scheduled Tribe communities, are demonstrating against the decision to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community, which constitutes the State’s majority population and has been a long-standing demand. Last month, the Manipur High Court asked the Bharatiya Janata Party government to consider petitions for the Meitei community’s demand and decide on it “expeditiously”.
Paolienlal Haokip, the MLA from Saikot constituency told The Indian Express that there were “lots of deaths and lots of arson”.
In a tweet, he had also alleged that “ethnic cleansing” was being done in the state and that central forces are not being deployed at sensitive areas.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday alleged that the violence in Manipur was the result of the fissures created by the BJP among communities.
“BJP’s politics of hate, division and its greed for power is responsible for this mess,” Kharge said. “We appeal to people from all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a chance.”
