 By
Kevin Black
May 3, 2023, reports were received of
rioting in five districts in Manipur State,
Northeastern India. At least 13 people have been
killed and more than forty-five people injured in
the Manipur capital city of Imphal, alone. Hundreds
of churches, temples, commercial buildings, homes,
and vehicles have been burned and numerous cases of
vandalism have occurred. Rioting continued Thursday,
May 4.
The rioting has been labeled as being
between Hindus and Muslims, between Meiteis and
tribes of the Hill Country, and between Meiteis and
the Kuki People. Recent reports have indicated that
Meitei mobs have targeted Kuki People and their
property, so the last description is probably the
most accurate. Accusations are flying from both
sides. Meitei People have claimed that illegal
immigrants from Myanmar are actually to blame for
the mob action. They have also claimed that tribal
people instigated the violence.
Victims of the rioting in Imphal
include leaders, staff and workers of various parts
of the charitable ministry of the Kuki Christian
Church Mission (KCCM). Reports have been received of
burning of the KCCM Office building, Library, staff
buildings and homes of some of the staff. Another
report suggests that the charitable Christian
Hospital may have been destroyed as well. A video
clip was received which shows the KCCM Office
building on fire.
A military rapid action team was
dispatched to Manipur to try to stop the violence.
In addition, troops of the Indian army and Assam
Rifles have been sent to help stop the rioting. The
governor of the state of Manipur has approved a
“shoot at sight” order in extreme cases where
persuasion, warnings, and reasonable force are not
effective. Over nine thousand people have been
rescued and relocated to safe places, five thousand
in Churachandpur and two thousand, each, from Moreh
and Imphal. A curfew has been imposed, along with a
five-day suspension of Internet service.
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The violence, which continued at
least into Thursday, May 4, apparently began with a
large protest in Churachandpur by the All Tribal
Students’ Union, Manipur. During the protest a
Meitei truck driver struck a bicycle and ran over
water bottles being held for the protesters. The
truck driver was beaten, and Meitei mobs then
retaliated. The Violence escalated from there.
The All Tribal Students’ Union,
Manipur was protesting the undermining of tribal
rights in Manipur and a petition by Meitei people to
become a “scheduled tribe.” Meiteis are currently
not approved for scheduled tribe status but their
petition is being considered and is supported by the
ruling party of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP).
‘Scheduled Tribe’ status would allow
Meiteis to buy land in the hill country and to get
certain, key government appointments, something the
hill tribes do not wish to have happen. The tribal
people insist that the Hindu Meitei people already
have disproportionate influence and that tribal
rights have already been severely undermined. Kuki
people, the largest of the hill tribes, are also
protesting existing government “land grab” efforts.
Meiteis make up fifty-three percent of the
population of Manipur but occupy ten percent of the
land, mostly in the Meitei (Imphal) Valley. The Kuki,
Zomi,
Hmar tribes and others, mostly Christian or Muslim,
occupy ninety percent of the land.
There is hard evidence that land of
the Hill Country tribes is being taken without due
process. Large areas of Hill Country are being
reclassified as Reserve Forest, Protected Forest,
Wildlife Sanctuary, and Wetlands. Then the
government has treated the tribal people as
encroachers or illegal immigrants and has forcibly
removed them from their historical lands. There have
also been reports of the India government settling
Hindu people on traditional tribal lands, further
undermining land rights of the tribal people.
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