Zo United Delegation Meets MHA, Pushes for Tribal Administration in Manipur

A delegation of Manipur tribals from the "Zo United" group convened a meeting in New Delhi with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials, led by AK Mishra, the MHA's Adviser on northeast affairs. During the Wednesday meeting, tribal leaders reiterated their call for establishing a distinct administration for tribals and the implementation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the remaining areas of Manipur.

"The tribal leaders, while talking to the media on Thursday said that the delegation also urged the Centre not to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar. They told the media on Thursday that the situation in Manipur, instead of getting better, was getting worse each day.

"The mistrust between the two communities involved in the conflict has deepened because of the continuing false propaganda and the continued attacks and counter-attacks," they said.

"It may be mentioned that since the central government had not deemed Manipur to be 'disturbed, the authorities had refused migration of our displaced students to other colleges. There has been a flurry of government job recruitment notices advertised recently despite the current atmosphere. Notably, there are no exam centres in the Kuki-Zo areas. This shows the mindset of the government and the people running the state," he said. The leader said that too much blood had been shed and there was too much enmity and mistrust for the tribals to consider being under the Manipur government again. "The situation is very dire for the Kuki-Zo tribals, who will be openly discriminated against if we return to being ruled by the majority Meitei community. We have no option but to ask for a separate administration (Union Territory with legislature). Once that happens, we prefer to go".

"Arambai Tenggol' is so secure in its ties with the government that "it openly flaunts automatic guns including AKS, SLRs and LMGs on the streets of the capital and posts them on social media without any fear of getting in trouble with the law." Claiming that because of the ethnic conflict, tribal students were now at the mercy of Meitei officials, the "Zo United" leader said that the state education board, medical directorate, and head offices of all technical institutes were based in Imphal and were controlled by the Meitei community.

For any office-related work, tribals can no longer go to Imphal. The careers of thousands and thousands of students now depend on the whims of officials in Imphal, he stated. Vualzong said that on November 27, displaced MBBS students from the tribal community were not allowed to take their exams despite filling out their examination forms and depositing their examination fees, while on the other hand, displaced Meitei MBBS students who fled to Imphal, were allowed to give their exams and continue their studies.

"The state government's anti-minority policies and its support of radical groups from the Meitei community led to a build-up of tension and mistrust in the past few years, which eventually culminated in the ethnic violence," he alleged.

Vualzong highlighted that Moreh, situated along the Myanmar border, holds strategic and commercial significance for the state and the nation. Due to population exchanges resulting from the violence, Kuki-Zo tribals stayed in Moreh while Meiteis fled. He noted that in other parts of the state, tribal policemen are stationed in tribal-majority areas, and vice versa, besides the deployment of central security forces throughout. However, in Moreh, the state government allegedly deployed Meitei commandos, foreseeing tensions despite the awareness of potential issues.

"The state government is no longer a government of the people of Manipur but a 'Taliban government' run by 'Arambai Tenggol,' a radical group which works for the Meiteis and whose stated purpose is to conduct genocide on tribals." We cannot continue to be under an administration which is controlled by a community which declared war on us and openly says that it will kill all of us. There is no other option but for the central government to arrange a separate administration (Union Territory with legislature) for tribals so that they can live a dignified life under the constitution of India," said Vualzong, who is also one of the key leaders of the ITLF.