Forests on Fire – Violence in Manipur
Context:
- A recent outbreak of violence in Manipur between the Meitei and Kuki groups resulted from a rally staged by the Meitei community in support of their quest for Scheduled Tribe designation.
The main causes of the violence in Manipur are:
- Other crucial factors, such include those listed below, aside from the insecurities engendered by Hindu dominated Meiteis’ demand for the ST designation include
- The authorities forcibly removed Kuki Tribe members from the hillside woodlands on the pretext of encroaching on the “reserve forest.”
- Apart from disagreement among Manipur’s drug warlords, the authorities destroyed poppy farming in the hills without offering any substitute jobs.
- Manipur’s Hill Area Autonomous District Councils, which are not subject to the constitution’s sixth schedule, have a problem with having insufficient autonomy.
- The administration’s recent “verification drive” to find “illegal immigrants” from Myanmar disregarded the long-standing connections between Kukis in Manipur and Kukis of the “Zo” ethnic group in Myanmar, as well as Nagas on both sides. It also disregarded the fact that many of the refugees in Manipur are fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
- taking over the ancestral lands of the hill people without first consulting them or respecting their customary systems.
Action required:
- To replace the growing of poppies in the Hills, there is a need to provide alternate employment opportunities and markets for agricultural products, including growing aloe vera.
- To settle issues of difference and come up with workable solutions, dialogue needs to be encouraged between the rational voices of the opposing communities.
- To combat the threat of illegal migration and drug smuggling through the open India-Myanmar border from the Golden Triangle (Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos), technology infrastructure must be developed.
- To wean the kids away from this lethal drug problem, drug de-addiction campaigns and de-addiction facilities must be established.
- According to the 2007 rehabilitation policy, the purchase and eviction of forest areas must be done in accordance with the law, only after consultation, previous rehabilitation, and resettlement.
- Fighting illegal immigration requires a humane strategy that takes into account pre-independence cross-border tribal family ties and permits citizenship to be granted on a compassionate basis in circumstances of persecution.
- To resolve anxieties among the Hill tribes, think about giving the Hill District Councils more autonomy and maybe bringing the region under the Sixth Schedule.
Steps to Take:
- In the spirit of cooperative federalism, there is a need for cooperation between the Union and State governments, and the Act East strategy of the Centre offers diplomatic, economic, and cross-border solutions to the problems of employment, market, and drug smuggling. Furthermore, power must be devolved in order to give tribe members the ability to address their ethnic and cultural issues. To maintain peace in the area, compassionate development and citizenship policies are urgently needed.
