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Congress Demands President Murmu's Intervention to Redress Situation in Manipur

The party said though there were "several lapses" in the management of the situation at the early stages of violence, now is not the time to point fingers but to act.
Mallikarjun Kharge and other Congress leaders hand over a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu about the situation in Manipur, on May 30, 2023. Photo: Twitter/@Kharge

New Delhi: The Congress party on Tuesday, May 30, submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu, seeking her intervention in Manipur “so that the extraordinary situation confronting the state” can be “redressed at the earliest and normalcy can be brought in urgently”.

The memorandum, submitted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other top Congress leaders, says that for the ongoing ethnic clashes to end, the “severe trust deficit both in the administration and the law enforcement agencies” needs immediate redressal. “Without fixing this, it would be extremely difficult to bring back normalcy to the state,” it says.

The memorandum has 12 demands, which if implemented earnestly, the party says, could usher in peace again.

More than 100 people have died in the clashes between Meitei and Kuki-Zomi communities, with many more injured and nearly 50,000 people displaced. The violence began on May 3, after the conclusion of a rally by tribal groups against the proposal to include the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes list. While there have been periods of relative peace, the war-like situation was still continuing.

Read the Congress party’s full memorandum below.

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Memorandum submitted on the 30th of May, 2023 to Hon’ble President of India on the ongoing ethnic clash in Manipur

It is with a deep sense of loss and hurt that we are humbly submitting this memorandum for your intervention so that the extraordinary situation confronting the state of Manipur can be redressed at the earliest and normalcy can be brought in urgently.

On the afternoon of May 3rd, 2023 there was a sudden eruption of violence, first started in Kangvai in Churachandpur after a solidarity rally organised by the All Manipur Tribal Union, which was organized peacefully in all the district headquarters. However, violence that started in Kangvai spread to Torbung, Churachandpur town, Moreh, and many other villages in the foothills of the valley region, where many homes, mainly belonging to the Meiteis, were vandalized, torched and thousands had to flee for their life. In retaliation, on the forenoon of 4th May, 2023 homes of the Kuki-Zomi communities were vandalized and arson was committed within Imphal and the adjoining districts. By then at least, 74 people had lost their lives, many more were missing and at least 300 were injured. Things have turned from bad to worse over the last 27 days with largescale destruction of property and livelihoods. Nearly 45,000 people are sheltered in relief camps in different parts of the state with substantial contributions from civil society and public. Till date, curfew is imposed in all the valley districts and the hill districts of Kangkokpi, Tengnoupal and Churachandpur. Every passing day there are reports of firing and villagers have been forced to form self-defence committees with licensed guns to ward off attacks. There are allegations that the large-scale arson is an attempt at ethnic cleansing and there have also been sinister attempts to turn the ethnic conflict into a communal clash with the selected targeting of churches and few temples. But the people of Manipur have largely resisted these designs so far.

At this critical juncture, without resorting to blame games, there is serious deficit in the efforts of the slate government to contain the arson and violence. If firm action were taken on the 3rd May evening to prevent the arson in the hill districts, the situation would not have deteriorated this badly.

The Union Government provided a large number of security personnel to maintain law and order in the state, but the situation is still tense with violence continuing to erupt in few pockets and the entire state has turned into a tinderbox. Despite personnel changes in the administration, the people have shown demonstrated severe trust deficit both in the administration and the law enforcement agencies, which needs immediate redressal. Without fixing this, it would be extremely difficult to bring back normalcy to the state.

The gravity of the situation may be evaluated from the fact that gun fights between the two warring communities and arson of hundreds of houses continued, resulting in the deaths of nearly ten persons, including security personnel, while the Army Chief, General Manoj Pande, and Union MoS (Home) Shri. Nityananda Rai were present in Manipur.

At this point, nearly one hundred people have died and many more have gone missing. More than two thousand houses have been either burned or destroyed. Some ten thousand people, including women and children, are still living in relief camps and safer places without proper health and sanitation facilities. Thousands of people are rendered homeless and displaced. Almost all educational institutions are closed, denying education to students. All internet facilities, including broadband, have been banned since 3rd May, 2023 in the name of security and safety. Thousands of people dwelling in peripheral areas near hills and valleys are living under fear psychosis facing sleepless nights. Agricultural land and paddy fields are deserted, with no cultivators in sight before the onset of the monsoon. Daily wage earners are living in extreme agony. This condition in Manipur may be termed a total collapse of law and order and breakdown of administration in the state. Till today, curfew is imposed in all the valley districts and the hill districts of Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal and Churachandpur.

The people of Manipur are feeling a deep sense of hurt that they have been treated as second-class citizens as there were no visits till the 24th May, 2023 from the Union government, and there has been total and complete silence on the crisis. Earlier, Union Ministers used to visit Manipur frequently –almost once every week the state hosted a minister. But after the crisis started, there has been utter silence, making the people of the state feel that the lives and property of the people of Manipur just do not matter. It is tragic that the BJP’s politics of divide and rule in Manipur has created this huge crisis.

In these circumstances, we request that you issue the necessary instructions to maintain peace and bring normalcy to the state, and we suggest some of the urgent needs to redress the situation as follows:

We humbly submit the following twelve demands:

1. Firm and sustained efforts must be made to control violence in every part of the state for the immediate restoration of peace, harmony, and normalcy.
2. The Union government must immediately take all possible measures to control and confine all miltant groups (including those under SoO) and ensure that all armed civilian groups be stopped forthwith by taking appropriate action.
3. Villages near the foothills of both communities must is covered with adequate security so that armed militants do not intrude and disturb peace.
4. The Union government should take steps for the rehabilitation of all displaced persons at their original place or in safer areas with suitable security arrangements.
. Payment of dignified and reasonable compensation for loss of life, property, and all other things concerned to all the victims and affected persons.
6. There is a need for immediate identification of those who have lost their lives and handing their bodies over to the bereaved families for the last rites.
7. A special drive must be carried out to trace many numbers of missing people.
8. A large number of children are living in the relief camps and special arrangement for the education of the students of the displaced families must be made.
9. Disruption of transportation of goods and essential commodities through the National Highways and district headquarters must be stopped.
10. The state government must immediately take over the management and maintenance of all relief camps and provide proper health and sanitation facilities for all.
11. The letter and spirit of the existing Constitutional provisions related to the state of Manipur must be protected, and the trust between communities should be restored through reconciliation and dialogue.
12. A high-level inquiry commission should be constituted headed by a serving or retired Supreme Court Judge.

As mentioned earlier, though there were several lapses in the management of the situation at the early stages of violence, leading to the present imbroglio. Now is not the time to point fingers but to act. If the suggestions above are implemented in earnest, peace can perhaps be restored once again. The Congress party is a responsible political party and is even ready to lend support to any initiative to restore peace, normalcy and harmony in the state of Manipur.

Yours sincerely

Mallikarjun Kharge
K.C. Venugopal
Mukul Wasnik
Bhaktacharan Das
Okram Ibobi Singh
Meghachandra Singh
Gaikhangham
Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh

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