Amidst tensions in Manipur amid protests by Christian tribal groups opposing the demand for ST status by Hindu Meitei people, four people were killed in Churachandpur while security personnel were evacuating Meiteis from the area. The incident happened when people who were opposing the evacuation blocked the road. The security forces were trying to move out the Meiteis living in a shelter to a place outside Churachandpur.
However, the locals stopped them by barricading roads. They also formed a human chain, putting women in the front. But this led to a confrontation and violence between the locals the security forces. When the situation escalated, the security forces opened fire. Four persons were killed and one was injured in the incident.
As per an Indian Express report a local said that the people opposed to the evacuation of Meiteis gathered near Tidim road, and they had put women at the front of the barricade assuming that the security personnel will not fire at them, however, the security personnel opened fire, leaving four people dead.
According to an Assam Rifles official in Imphal, a gathering of “80-200” persons took place, and four people were killed in the firing. “Evacuation of people from different parts of the state is constantly going on,” he added, noting that road blockades remain widespread in several parts of the state.
Meanwhile, the IRS (Indian Revenue Service) Association said that a tax assistant named Letminthang Haokip had been killed in Imphal. Reportedly he was dragged out of his house and then killed by miscreants. The association condemned the killing of the Haokip and said that “no cause or ideology can justify the killing of an innocent public servant on duty.”
“IRS Association strongly condemns the dastardly act of violence resulting in the death of Sh. Letminthang Haokip, Tax Assistant in Imphal. No cause or ideology can justify the killing of an innocent public servant on duty. Our thoughts are with his family in this difficult hour,” the IRS Association tweeted.
According to officials, the death toll in Manipur violence has reached 54. Scores of people have died and over a hundred injured in clashes between the two communities, and the unofficial figure of casualties is much higher.
16 bodies were kept in the morgue of the Churachandpur district hospital while 15 bodies were in Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal East district, according to the officials. 23 deaths were reported by The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences at Lamphel in Imphal West district. Several people with bullet injuries are being treated in the hospitals.
Apart from this, five hille-based tribal militants were killed and 2 India Reserve Battalion jawans were injured in two separate encounters in Churachandpur district on Friday night, police said. Militants opened fire at security forces at Torbung in Churachandpur, forcing them to return the fire. In the exchange of fire, one militant was killed and two IRB jawans were injured, the police said.
At the same time, a total of 13,000 people were rescued and shifted to safe shelters, including army camps. Most of them are Meitei people evacuated from Tribal majority areas which saw large-scale violence. The Indian Army has said that it has brought Churachandpur, Moreh, Kakching and Kangpokpi districts under its “firm control”.
“Total of approximately 13,000 civilians have been rescued and are currently staying in various ad-hoc boarding facilities specifically created for the purpose within Company Operating Bases & Military Garrisons,” a defence official said.
Nearly 10,000 soldiers from the Army and the Assam Rifles have been deployed in the state since the violence broke out on Wednesday. Around 1,000 more central paramilitary personnel with anti-riot vehicles reached Manipur on Friday.
The violence started at Torbung in Churachandpur district during the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) on Wednesday to protest the demand of Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The protest was organised by the Naga and Kuki tribals after Manipur High Court directed the state govt to submit a recommendation to the central govt to include the Meiteis in the ST list.
It is alleged that during the march, an armed mob attacked the Metei people in the area, which led to retaliatory attacks in the Meitei majority Imphal valley districts. Soon the situation escalated and the violence spread to several districts, both in the tribal-dominated hills and the Meitei-dominated valley.
However, Tribals were also protesting against the eviction of people from forest areas and a proposed survey of protected forest land by the state govt. The first instance of violence erupted in the Churachandpur district on April 27 when a crowd organized by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) set a recently built gym/sports complex on fire a day before Chief Minister N Biren Singh was supposed to inaugurate it.
The tribal groups were protesting against the proposed survey of reserved and protected forests and wetlands by the state administration and the demolition of three unauthorized churches. The Meitei groups allege that illegal Kukis from Myanmar are settling in forest land in the state, and the local Kukis are supporting them.
