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| Manipur Guv had a tough year |
High court pulls order that triggered Manipur ethnic riots in 2023
(Move is expected to bring peace back to violence-hit state, where sporadic unrest continues)
The High Court in India’s northeastern Manipur state on Feb. 22 deleted a paragraph from a controversial order that reportedly resulted in unprecedented ethnic riots in the state, killing some 175 people mostly Christians.
The Manipur State High Court deleted part of the March 2023 order that directed the state government to send a recommendation on 'Scheduled Tribe' status for the Hindu Meitei community, which triggered protests from the Christian majority Kuki tribal people.
The ethnic violence that began in May 2023 killed at least 175 people and injured some 1,100. Some 30 people are also reported missing. The rioters burned down or vandalized some 380 religious structures including temples and churches, according to reports.
The violence between Meitei Hindus and Kukis and Zos (Christians) also left more than 70,000 people displaced.
A panel of experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, who did not speak on behalf of the United Nations, said they were especially concerned “that the violence seems to have been preceded and incited by hateful and inflammatory speech.”
"The March 2023 High Court ruling was bad in law. It entitled Hindu Meiteis to the same economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education as the minority Christian Kukis. Finally, after a review petition was filed, the impugned order has been set right," says analyst Ashutosh Talukdar.
The court move "may help bring normalcy in violence-hit Manipur state," he added.
According to the 2011 census, Manipur is 41.29 percent Christian, mostly tribal people, while 41.39 percent are Hindus.
The Christian Kuki people oppose granting tribal status to Hindu Meitei people. Tribal status will enable Hindus to access special governmental concessions meant to bring weaker tribal people into the social mainstream.
The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Manipur led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh allegedly allowed taking legal measures to help Hindus. The tribal status will also enable Hindus buy tribal lands in the hills, where the Kukis predominately live.
The Kuki tribal Christians opposed the court order fearing that it will lead to Hindus eating into their share of land, jobs and other opportunities.
The BJP, which also runs the federal government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was “accused of pursuing policies that discriminated against Christian Zos, Paiteis and Kukis, including forced evictions that threatened the security of their land. There was an attempt to cast us as illegal immigrants," said a Kuki lawmaker in Manipur.
Modi's trusted home minister, Amit Shah, rejected outright the demand to replace Chief Minister Biren Singh in Manipur and also announced in early February that the federal government will establish a fence along India's 1,624-kilometer border with Myanmar that runs through Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
Shah’s announcement has also been strongly opposed by Nagas and Mizos, who are predominantly Christian and share ethnic bonds with brethren in Myanmar.
The tension is far from over. Intermittent clashes continue in Manipur.
Since the violence broke out, some 18,000 Internally Displaced People have taken shelter in 115 relief camps. The relief camps across violence-hit Churachandpur are looked after by more than a dozen civil society organizations.
Last year, the Supreme Court Chief Justice reprimanded the government for not bringing the situation in Manipur under control.
“It’s time that the government steps in and takes action because this is simply unacceptable,” he said.
Shah visited Manipur at the end of May last year, but the visit failed to bring normalcy as the “peace committee” set up by Shah has been shunned by Kuki groups.
In many cases, police have been accused of refusing to assist Kuki people, who have been attacked. Several cases of violence against Kuki are also not investigated, Kuki leaders say.
They blamed it on a High Court ruling !! :::: Manipur HC deletes controversial paragraph from March 27, 2023 order on ST status for Meiteis
The Manipur High Court has deleted a paragraph from its controversial March 27, 2023 order that directed the state government to send a recommendation on Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei community.
The order had led to massive ethnic violence in Manipur, with the tribal Kuki community opposing the court's direction.
"After joint perusal of the procedure laid down by the Government of India for inclusion in or exclusion from the list of Scheduled Tribe issued under Article 342 of the Constitution of India in Clause (g) of the Annual Report, 2013-14 of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India which has been also reproduced herein above and observation made by the Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in State of Maharashtra V. Milind & Ors. [(2001) 1 SCC 4],
I am satisfied and of the view that the direction given at Para No. 17(iii) ...needs to be reviewed, as the direction given at Para No. 17(iii) of the Hon'ble Single Judge is against the observation made in the Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court." ---- (the new court order says)
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| Women argue with central forces during peak of clash in 2023 |
A bench of Justice Golmei Gaiphulshillu stated that the judgment was passed in a "misconception of law" as the "petitioners failed to assist the court properly at the time of hearing of the said writ petition due to his misconception of fact and law".
The March order was passed by a bench of the Acting Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, MV Muralidharan, in a petition filed by some members of the Meitei Tribe Union seeking directions to the state of Manipur to recommend inclusion of the Meiti community Scheduled Tribes list.
The court also had directed the state to consider the case of the petitioners for inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list, expeditiously, and sought the state government's response to the Centre's 2013 letter on demand for grant of ST status to Meiteis.
In the revised order of Feb 22, 2024, Justice Gaiphulshillu noted that the order was contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision in the State of Maharashtra vs Milind & Ors, in which the top court had observed that courts cannot modify, amend or alter the ST list. "Accordingly, the direction given at Para No. 17(iii) needs to be deleted and is ordered accordingly for deletion," the High Court directed in its judgment delivered on Wednesday.
Complexities remain:
Justice Golmei Gaiphulshillu of the High Court said that the paragraph in the order needs to be reviewed.
“I am satisfied and of the view that the direction given at Paragraph No. 17 (iii) of the Hon’ble Single Judge dated March 27, 2023 needs to be reviewed, as the direction is against the observation made in the Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the court noted.
However, the directive given by Justice Murlidharan on March 27 in Paragraph 17 (ii) which stated ‘The first respondent is directed to submit the recommendation in reply to the letter dated May 29, 2013 of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India’ still stands.
The original petitioners - in whose case the direction was passed by Justice Murlidaran, filed a review plea before the High Court, in which the Meitei petitioners submitted that an “innocuous” direction in the March 2023 order may have to be modified considering the delicate nature of the issue.
The review petitioners still sought for the State to consider the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list, but added that it was completely up to the wisdom of the State to take a call on the issue.
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