The Manipur Tribals Forum, Delhi (MTFD), has approached the Supreme Court with an intervening application, seeking that both committees constituted by the court — one headed by Director General of Police (retired) Padsalgikar and the other headed by Justice (retired) Gita Mittal — be directed to supply copies of their reports to them.
The MTFD, representing interests of the Kuki-Zo people, has also sought for an order directing the arrest of Koroungangba Khuman and Pramot Singh, leaders of armed radical Meitei outfits Arambai Tenggol and Meetei Leepun respectively. It also sought that the Manipur government be directed to give information on the progress of investigation into the deaths of over 170 Kuki-Zo people killed in the ethnic conflict.
The State has been seeing an ethnic conflict between the valley-based Meitei people and the hills-based Scheduled Tribe Kuki-Zo people since May 3 last year. Over 220 people have been killed in the violence since then, thousands more have been injured, and tens of thousands have been internally displaced.
Parts of the State affected by the violence and conflict are set to vote for the Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
In the plea filed by the MTFD, the petitioners said outfits like the Arambai Tenggol and the Meetei Leepun were allegedly “preparing for a new onslaught” on the tribal community after the Lok Sabha elections. They said, “We are coming before this court with folded hands to take the urgent measures that are necessary which, if happens, may be even more extensive than the first rounds of attack.”
They added that they have sent as many as five notes to the committee headed by DGP Padsalgikar, who has told them that the information had been sent to the local police.
Despite the notes and the time that has passed since, no action seems to have been taken in the cases of atrocities against Kuki-Zo people, the MTFD said, adding that a similar situation prevailed with respect to the rehabilitation of the Kuki-Zo victims.
The petitioners said they were grateful to the responses from DGP Padsalgikar but added that the victim community had been left in the dark and had no choice but to presume that no action had been taken because these alleged assailants continue to roam free.
This comes after the flare-up in the conflict last week, when two Kuki-Zo village defence volunteers were killed, and then their bodies mutilated, videos of which were recorded and then put up on social media, making them go viral soon.
In the latest note submitted to the committee headed by DGP Padsalgikar, the petitioners had said that the mutilation of Kuki-Zo people seen on Saturday was result of no action being taken against perpetrators of similar crimes a few months ago, when another Kuki-Zo village volunteer was beheaded.
Published - April 18, 2024 10:22 pm IST
