The northeastern state of Manipur is on the boil following clashes between Meitei Manipuris and the tribals. At least 11 people were killed in the riots. As a result, the Centre imposed Article 355 of the Indian Constitution which gives it power to handle the law and order of a state. Various security forces have been deployed in the state along with the suspension of the internet. Over 11,000 people have been evacuated. The clashes started after there was a Tribal Solidarity March organised by the All Tribals Student Union Manipur across the hill districts. However, it was particularly in the Kuki tribe-dominated Churachandpur district where the clashes started after the ATSUM march. Soon the violence spread to other districts too. Both the tribals and Meiteis have accused each other of the violent clashes.
The tribals — Kukis and Nagas — were unhappy with the recent Manipur High Court order directing the state government to submit recommendations to the Centre for the inclusion of Meitei Manipuris into the list of Scheduled Tribes. Even before this order, Kukis were angry with Chief Minister Biren Singh-led BJP government due to its eviction drives in some villages, dominated mostly by the Kukis. According to the government, these villages sprung on encroached reserved forest land. Just days ago, there was violence in the Churachandpur district. The Kukis of the state had been demanding some form of self-determination from the Centre for a long time.
The current violence is mostly related to the High Court order. According to both Kukis and Nagas, Meitei Manipuris, who account for 50 per cent of the state’s population and yield strong influence in 40 out of 60 assembly seats, have both demographic and political advantages. They feel that the ST status would lead to a loss of job opportunities and allow the Meiteis to acquire land in the hills. Kukis account for 30 per cent of the state’s population while Nagas 15 per cent. Both Nagas and Kukis are mostly Christians. On the other hand, the majority of Meitei Manipuris are Hindus while a section of them are Muslims and Sanamahis.
No doubt that the tribals are right when they say that Meiteis have both demographic and political advantages. A section of Meiteis also enjoys the status of Scheduled Caste while some fall under the Other Backward Caste. The remaining Meiteis fall under the General category — which now enjoys the Extreme Weaker Section reservation. But the tribals are also ignoring the fact that Meiteis occupy only 10 per cent of the state’s landmass. While the Meiteis can’t buy land in the hills, which comprise 90 per cent of the state’s landmass, the tribals, on the other hand, can buy land in the plains, where the Meiteis live. That’s the reason the Meiteis are demanding ST status.
If the tribals are concerned about saving their lands in the hills, so are the Meiteis in the plains. The concerns of the Meiteis simply can’t be brushed aside. It is high time that the state government — and also the Centre — initiate the political dialogue to address the concerns of Meitei Manipuris, Kukis and Nagas.
Understanding BJP’s Claim To Win 12 Lok Sabha Seats In Assam
Interacting with the media this Monday, the BJP state president Bhabesh Kalita claimed that his party is going to win 12 seats out of 14 in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from the northeastern state of Assam. He also claimed that the main Opposition party Congress wouldn’t be able to open its account in the polls next year.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party grabbed nine seats while the grand old party had to remain satisfied with only three. The saffron party had contested in alliances with Assam Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front under the umbrella of the National Democratic Alliance. AGP contested on three seats — Barpeta, Kaliabor and Dhubri — but failed to win any seat while BPF lost the Kokrajhar seat to an Independent Naba Kumar Sarania. Badruddin Ajmal led the All India Democratic Front and managed to win the Dhubri seat.
The BJP’s repeated claim of winning 12 seats is a subtle message to its allies, particularly AGP, to assert its strength. More than this, the claim is aimed to utilise the bitterness brewing between Congress and AIUDF. Both parties had entered into an alliance against BJP in the last state assembly elections. This week, the state unit of Congress filed a police complaint against Badruddin Ajmal for making unparliamentary statements against state party president Bhupen Kumar Borah. The party also alleged that Ajmal has been attempting to weaken the social fabric of Assamese society. AIUDF has been upset with the grand old party as the latter didn’t invite the former to last month’s Opposition meeting. Ajmal’s party even criticised the grand old party for falling into BJP’s trap. This was the second Opposition meeting organised by Congress within two months. The grand old party is avoiding the AIUDF to get back its lost support in the Assamese Hindu-dominated areas.
The statement of the BJP state president that AIUDF may win two seats confirmed that the party is banking on Ajmal’s party to win more seats. It lost the Nagaon seat to Congress’s Pradyut Bordoloi by a small margin. This seat has a sizable Muslim population. Last time AIUDF didn’t put a candidate in this seat. This time the saffron party is hoping that there would be a split of Muslim votes as the probability of any understanding between Congress and AIUDF is less. Similarly, the saffron party is hoping that it has the probability to win the Kaliabor seat if AIUDF eats into a chunk of Muslim votes. That’s why the saffron party never misses any chance to bring AIUDF into the limelight — a strategy of the party to divide the anti-BJP votes and to win the maximum number of seats from the northeastern state in the Lok Sabha polls next year.
NPP’s Mission To Reach Close To Majority Mark
The National People’s Party, the ruling party of Meghalaya, confirmed the merger of the People’s Democratic Front into the party. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma confirmed that the merger would take place today (May 6). PDF has two MLAs and is currently supporting the NPP-led government. After the merger, the party’s strength will increase to 28 — three seats short of a majority. The party is running a coalition government comprising United Democratic Party, BJP and Hill State People’s Democratic Party.
The ruling party is also hoping to win the Sohiong assembly constituency to increase its tally to 29. On May 10, the Sohiong assembly constituency is going to polls. The election to this seat was withheld after the demise of the UDP candidate. However, here the party is battling against its own allies — UDP and HSPDP. UDP, the second largest party in the ruling coalition, is also trying to wrest this seat to increase its tally to 12 and to assert its strength in the ruling coalition.
NPP knows that it can’t afford to lose this election as it is the ruling party and if it fails to win this seat, this is likely to have a negative impact on its dominance ahead of the crucial upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The intensity of this election is felt by the war of words between the NPP and UDP. The state NPP president even went on to say that after the Sohiong election, the UDP would be asked to sit in the Opposition. On the other hand, HSPDP, which has two MLAs, is also trying to retain the seat. In the last 2018 state elections, HSPDP won the seat defeating Congress by a margin of three per cent.
The author is a political commentator.
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