As Parliament Discusses Manipur, Both Tribals and Meitei Leaders Lobbying in Delhi on Demands

While the Lok Sabha debates on the Manipur issue, leaders of both tribals and Meitei community are lobbying in New Delhi and holding meetings with Home Ministry officials.

A meeting between Home Minister Amit Shah and leaders of Manipur's Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) was scheduled to take place on Tuesday but was not held as the Minister was busy with the Parliament session.

Senior ITLF leader and spokesman Ginza Vualzong said that the meeting with the Union Home Minister would now be held on Wednesday and they held meetings with the Home Ministry officials on Tuesday.

On the other hand, leaders of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an umbrella body of the Meitei community, also held meetings with Central government officials in Delhi.

COCOMI spokesman Khuraijam Athouba said that his organisation vehemently opposed the Union Government's intention to "engage in talks with the self-proclaimed ITLF".

"This group is at the forefront of individuals directly involved in the ongoing violence in Manipur. Their members are known to be leaders of the immigrant Chin-Kuki Narco-Terrorist organisations, coercing innocent Kuki civilians into participating in violent activities. The Manipuri populace has been exposed to numerous video footage and images depicting these members brandishing sophisticated sniper rifles and operating drone cameras from hilltop locations within Manipur," the COCOMI alleged in a statement, issued from Delhi.

Accusing Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga of supporting ITLF’s activities, the COCOMI spokesman said that various instances have emerged where the Chief Minister of Manipur has vehemently protested against the unwarranted interference in the state's internal affairs.

The COCOMI has been strongly opposing the ITLF and other tribal organisations’ demands for separate administrations (equivalent to separate state) for the tribals in Manipur.

Meanwhile, a four member delegation of the ITLF went to Delhi on Monday to meet the Union Home Minister to press for its demands, which include a separate state for the tribals. The other demands of the ITLF include state police and commando forces should not be deployed in the hill areas of Manipur, inmates lodged in the jails in Imphal should be shifted to others states of the country, and legalisation of a site for mass burial of tribals killed during the ethnic violence

"We will press for early solutions to our demands as the Manipur situation, due to the misgovernance of the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh-led government, has been deteriorating fast. Tribals are victims due to the state government’s anti-tribal governance," Vualzong, who is also a member of the ITLF delegation, told IANS over phone.

Meanwhile in Manipur, security has been further tightened ahead of Wednesday's mass rally, to be organised by the United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of the Nagas in Manipur. The UNC would hold a mass rally in the Naga areas of the state for resolving the decades-old Naga political issue based on the Framework Agreement, signed on August 3, 2015.

The apex Kuki tribal body Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) has announced to support the UNC’s mass rally in four Naga-dominated districts -- Tamenglong, Chandel, Ukhrul, and Senapati.