The Manipur Tribal Forum Delhi (MTFD) has moved the Supreme Court reiterating its plea seeking army protection for tribals, contending that the state government and police can no longer be trusted as the Centre and “the chief minister have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis”.
In an application filed through advocate Satya Mitra, the forum has alleged that contrary to the assurances of solicitor-general Tushar Mehta to the Supreme Court on May 17 that the grievances of the tribals would be looked into, soon thereafter 81 Kukis were killed, 237 churches destroyed and 31,410 people displaced.
The MTFD had last month filed a PIL in the top court seeking judicial directions to stem the violence in Manipur and the deployment of the army.
In its latest application, the forum has said: “The core issue... in this petition and application is the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis by armed communal organisation.... Petitioner brought this to the notice of this court on 8.05.2023 and sought protection by the army since the state and its police force were not trusted by the tribals. This court made an order asking the authorities to ensure that the grievances will be looked into and peace restored. The solicitor-general gave assurance to that effect. This assurance was not kept. In the hearing on 17.05.2023 urgent reliefs were sought for protection of the tribals. These reliefs were not granted. Rather, the solicitor-general assured the court that peace was being restored.
“This assurance was not true.... The assurances of the authorities are not useful anymore and made in a non-serious fashion and are noteven intended to be implemented.”
It added: “The reason why this hon’ble court ought not to rely anymore on the empty assurances given by the UOI is because both the UOI and the chief minister of the state have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis.”
“The media has covered the situation as a ‘clash’ as if the two communities are fundamentally attacking each other. Nothing could be further from the truth. Such a narrative misses the fact that the two communities have co-existed for a long time despite their sometimes deep-rooted differences and, secondly, that the unique situation presently existing is of a couple of armed communal groups linked to the party in power in the state carrying out a predesigned communal attack on the tribals,” the application said.
It was submitted that the “clash” narrative camouflages the presence of two dominant groups — the Arambai Tenggol and the Meitei Leepun — which were allegedly behind the attacks. Unless the members of these groups and their leaders are arrested and prosecuted, any semblance of peace will be fragile, the forum contended.
