Violence flares up again in Manipur, 13 people killed in firing between two groups

Violence broke out once again in the north-eastern state of Manipur. This violence took place in Tengnoupal district of the state. Here on Monday afternoon, 13 people died in the firing between two parties.

An official said that firing took place between two groups near Letithu village in the district. On receiving information about the firing, our security forces reached the spot, from where we recovered 13 bodies. We did not find any weapons near the dead bodies.

Sources say that the deceased do not appear to be local residents of this place. It seems that these people had come from somewhere else and were involved in the firing.

According to the report, however, the dead have not been identified yet. Let us tell you that on December 3, the Kuki-Jo tribal groups in Tengnoupal district welcomed the peace agreement signed between the Government of India and UNLEF.

This incident has happened at a time when the ban on mobile internet services was lifted in the state on Sunday itself after seven months. However, restrictions still continue in the border areas of some districts.

It is known that the ban on the Internet was lifted for some time on September 23, but it was reinstated on September 26 to help prevent the spread of hate speech and hate video messages.

According to the report, however, the dead have not been identified yet. Let us tell you that on December 3, the Kuki-Jo tribal groups in Tengnoupal district had welcomed the peace agreement signed between the Government of India and UNLEF.

This incident has happened at a time when the ban on mobile internet services was lifted in the state on Sunday itself after seven months. However, restrictions still continue in the border areas of some districts.

It is known that the ban on the Internet was lifted for some time on September 23, but it was reinstated on September 26 to help prevent the spread of hate speech and hate video messages.

This rally was taken out against the demand of the Meitei community to be given Scheduled Tribe status. There has been a demand for granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community for a long time.

During this rally, a violent clash took place between tribals and non-tribals. Police fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. By evening the situation worsened so much that companies of the army and paramilitary forces were deployed there.

Why are Meiteis demanding tribal status?

The population of Meitei community in Manipur is more than 53 percent. These are non-tribal communities, mostly Hindus. At the same time, the population of Kuki and Naga is around 40 percent.

Despite having such a large population in the state, Meitei communities can settle only in the valley. More than 90 percent of Manipur’s area is hilly. Only 10 percent is valley. Naga and Kuki communities dominate the hilly areas while Meitei dominate the valley.

There is a law in Manipur. Under this, people of the Meitei community settled in the valley can neither settle in the hilly areas nor buy land. But Kuki and Naga tribal communities living in hilly areas can also settle in the valley and buy land.

The whole issue is that more than 53 percent of the population can live in only 10 percent of the area, but 40 percent of the population dominates more than 90 percent of the area.