Manipur Burning: Case lodged against Meitei Leepun chief for instigating

The Manipur Police in Kangpokpi district have registered a case against Meitei Leepun chief M Pramot Singh for allegedly promoting enmity between groups and criminal conspiracy, among others.

The Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO) of Sadar Hills, Kongpokpi, lodged a complaint on July 8 that led to the filing of a first information report (FIR). On June 13 a complaint was submitted to the Kangpokpi police station; on July 8 it was formalised into a First Information Report (FIR) under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Ethnic clashes between two tribal communities Meitei and Kuki since May 3 in Manipur have claimed nearly 150 lives, injured over 300 and displaced more than 50,000 people.

Kuki factions have accused two extremist Meitei organisations, Meitei Leepun and Arambai Tenggol, of starting and maintaining the conflict in Manipur.

The charges against the Meitei Leepun chief include “criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, public mischief, criminal intimidation with common intention”, according to the FIR.

According to the KSO's complaint, Meitei Leepun chief said, "Kukis are outsiders who are not indigenous to Manipur," during an interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire on June 7.

Senior Manipur police officials failed to respond to requests for an investigation update.

The apex body of Kuki communities in the state, Kuki Inpi Manipur, reaffirmed its demand for a separate administration by creating a new state under Article 3 of the Constitution on Friday.

“The scale and intensity of the institutionalised violence reached catastrophic proportion wherein even our elected representatives are not spared let alone our bureaucrats and police officers,” a press release by the group read.

“As a matter of fact, demographical/geographical separation has come into effect now. It is therefore pertinent on the part of the central government to expedite separate administration in the form of creation of a new state,” it added.

The demand for a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo-Chin-Hmar people, who primarily reside in the hill districts of Manipur was first raised in May by 10 Kuki MLAs, including seven from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. It was later endorsed by all major Kuki organisations.