Unfolding the Manipur Riots

Thongkholal Haokip writes:

A riot broke out in Manipur on 3 May 2023 after a tribal unity rally in Churachandpur concluded peacefully. The rally was organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur against the demand for the inclusion of the dominant Meitei community into the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. The riot spread to Moreh and Imphal where, according to press reports, more than 60 people have been killed, over 40 churches and 1,700 houses incinerated, 20,000 people shifted to safer places while a few thousands still remain in relief camps, and 1,041 weapons looted from police stations and the Manipur police training centre, etc. This rally was organised after a single bench judge of Manipur High Court, on 19 April 2023, directed the Manipur government to submit a recommendation in reply to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In response to a writ petition filed on 7 May 2023 by the Manipur Tribal Forum Delhi and a special leave permission filed by the chairman of the Hill Areas Committee in the Supreme Court regarding the violence in Manipur and the ST status demand, the Chief Justice of India observed that neither the Court nor the state have the power to “add, subtract or modify” the ST list. There was a systematic build-up leading to this violence in the past few months.