IS NOT GETTING TRIBAL STATUS LED TO VIOLENCE IN MANIPUR?
Prior to the Union of India (‘UOI’) and the Meitei community signing the Merger Agreement on September 21, 1949, the Meitei community had their tribal status. The Meitei population of Manipur had lost their status and identity as indigenous people as a result of Manipur’s merger with the UOI, nevertheless. The petitioner asked the court to uphold their identity as a “tribe among tribes of Manipur” and add their community to the Constitution of India’s Schedule Tribe List. As a result, the Meitei Tribe Union’s members petitioned the court to order the State to suggest that the Meitei community be included as a Schedule Tribe in the Constitution.
Meiteis make approximately 10% of Manipur’s geographical area but make up around 53% of the state’s total population. Meiteis will be entitled to buy land in tribal-inhabited hill regions if they are included to the ST list.
A day before Biren Singh’s arrival to Churachandpur, on April 27, 2023, the open gym that the chief minister was supposed to launch was burned down. The imposition of Section 144 was accompanied by a five-day ban of internet access. Police fired tear gas shells into the crowd to break up the fight between protesters and security personnel.
Nearly a thousand people attended the Tribal Solidarity March organised by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3, 2023, in opposition to the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST category. It’s expected that more than 60,000 individuals attended the event. In the Churachandpur neighbourhood of Torbung, fighting broke out during the protest.
In the Kangpokpi district’s Saikul, about 11 residents were reported wounded, and two more perished from gunshot wounds.
The National Investigation Forum for Women investigated the ethnic violence that was sparked.
According to the reports, the NIFW team labelled some of the violent occurrences in Manipur as “state-led violence” and released a press statement detailing their findings. A F.I.R. was subsequently filed against the NIFW team on the grounds of sedition and governmental slander.
The Supreme Court ruled on August 2, 2023, that Manipur’s system for maintaining law and order and upholding the constitution had “completely broken down” and that the state police had “lost control of the situation.”
“Where are you left,” the CJI said, “if the law and order machinery can’t protect a citizen?”
The Meetei/Meitei community should be recognized as a tribe/tribal community in accordance with Articles 342(1) and 366 (19) (23) (25) of the Indian Constitution, as the Meitei are still a tribe but their status was overlooked during the preparation of Scheduled Tribe lists. Furthermore, Manipur’s traditional institutions, the state government, and central government agencies preferred to refer to the Meetei/Meitei as a tribe because of their uniqueness, authenticity, and distinctiveness. In this context, a number of people and organizations, including the petitioners, have made multiple submissions to the relevant authorities asking them to reinstate the Meeitei/Meitei community’s Scheduled Tribe designation on the List of Scheduled Tribes.
As in the case of other tribes of the State, the State Government had recommended without any hesitation, but in the case of the Meitei community, which is also one of the major/principal tribes of Manipur, the State Government has not recommended. This is a complete violation of the right to equality and the right to a life with dignity, which are enshrined in Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
The Chief Secretary and others were the petitioners’ representation in Mutum Churamani Meetei and Others Vs. State of Manipur 2023 SCC OnLine Mani 156. The petitioners and other Unions have been fighting for the Meetei/Meitei community’s inclusion in Manipur’s tribe list for many years.
All around the nation, crimes against women are committed. Our social reality includes this. We are now dealing with a situation that is unparalleled in scope and primarily concerns the commission of crimes and the use of violence against women.
Setting up an impartial commission to investigate issues like relief and rehabilitation and check on whether the pre-investigation procedure was fair is thus urgently needed. This episode has shown how the constitutional system, as well as law and order, have failed to end and deter violence in Manipur.
Anurag Singh
BA LLB, IV Year GD Goneka University