Manipur: Kuki homes set ablaze in Kamjong, public gatherings banned in two villages
The homes were burned down in the Gampal and Haiyang villages while most residents were working on their fields. The villages are near the Myanmar border.
In an order issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, District Magistrate Rangnamei Rang Peter said that the restrictions were necessary because of potential threats to peace and public safety.
The authorities have directed people not to leave their homes, and have prohibited any actions that could disrupt law and order in the area, The New Indian Express reported.
Manipur has been mired in ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zomi-Hmar communities that broke out in May 2023 and has since left at least 258 dead and displaced more than 59,000.
President's Rule was imposed in February this year after Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.
Several Kuki-Zo groups, including the Kuki Inpi Manipur and the Kuki Students' Organisation, condemned the incident and called for the reconstruction of the homes that were burned down. They also demanded fair compensation and proper rehabilitation for all displaced residents.
They further urged the deployment of sufficient personnel from 'neutral security forces' in the area to prevent any potential escalation of violence, The Hindu reported.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘What can we do if our names are cut out, what will we do?'
A LANDLOCKED region comprising Purnia, Katihar, Kishanganj, Supaul and Araria districts, the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal ranks the lowest on almost all development indices in Bihar. Around this time of the year, its foremost concern is the weather, with the rains bringing annual floods and distress. This time, there is another concern weighing Seemanchal down – the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which requires voters to produce documents that few here own, or know how to go about procuring. With the poor and marginalised likely to be the most affected by the EC drive, as the only official documents most of them hold are not valid for enrolment, political parties based in Seemanchal have taken the lead in slamming the poll panel. Purnia MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, an Independent, has told people 'not to cooperate with BLOs', the Booth Level Officers conducting the revision exercise on the ground. In Katihar, the CPI (ML-Liberation) MLA from Barsoi, Mehboob Alam, has also told voters in his constituency 'not to entertain BLOs' till he tells them to do so. With both Pappu Yadav and the CPI (ML-Liberation) allies of the RJD, its national vice-president Shivanand Tiwari tells The Indian Express: 'We all need to resist this tooth and nail.' Tiwari puts Seemanchal, where Muslims form over 40% of the population in four districts (with their numbers over 70% in Kishanganj), as 'central to the debate' around the EC move, which comes just ahead of the Assembly elections. The fact that Seemanchal borders West Bengal and Nepal, with Bangladesh not far away – inviting claims of illegal immigration – adds another dimension to the issue, the RJD leader adds. Calling the EC drive part of 'a sinister design to implement the RSS agenda', Tiwari says it cannot be used to weed out illegal migrants, as 'the Centre has no data or wherewithal' for it. The 11 documents the EC wants from those who don't figure in the 2003 electoral rolls (when the EC says it carried out its last Special Intensive Revision) are akin to seeking proof of citizenship. Among those hoping for clarity is Pranuffinisa Khatoon. The 37-year-old still wears her sari 'the Bengali way', but for years now, life for her has meant tilling the fields of her landlord at Rampur Kothi Ghat village in Purnia. For 15 of those years, she says, she has been a registered voter in Bihar. Aware of the new EC requirement for those who do not feature in the 2003 electoral rolls, Khatoon has applied for a domicile certificate. She has heard it requires only an Aadhaar card, which she possesses. But as no BLOs have made their way to Rampur Kothi Ghat yet, she is not sure. Khatoon and members of about 20 families like her in the village are also unsure about whether they will get the certificates on time to complete the process, even though departments have been told to expedite the issue of certificates needed for the EC exercise. As per the EC deadline, a draft electoral roll, based on the new enumeration forms, is to be readied by August 1. 'If Aadhaar, PAN, MNREGS cards don't count among the 11 documents the EC wants for enrolment, why were they issued in the first place,' asks Mohammed Afsar Ali, a daily wager in Dhamdaha, in another part of Purnia. At Jamunigarhi village in Kishanganj, Shariq, 42, also a daily wager, says he is in the clear as his name is in the 2003 voters' list. However, for his two brothers, both born after 1987, the family hopes to procure domicile certificates. These certificates normally take 15 days, Shariq says. 'The BLOs have not told us anything so far.' 'Shaken' by the EC's drive, an agitated Shariq says all of them voted as recently as last year's Lok Sabha polls. 'This is the NRC (National Register of Citizens) via the backdoor, with the EC playing proxy for the Centre,' he says. However, his aggression soon gives way to resignation. 'What can we do if our names are cut from the electoral rolls? What will we do?' Kishanganj district Congress president Ali Imam Chintu says there are no BLOs around to address people's concerns. 'We are hitting the streets. This revision must be withdrawn as it lacks transparency.' BLO Naushad Ahmad is among those collecting enrolment forms at Ward No. 4 of Nagar Panchayat in Bahadurganj in Kishanganj district. All around are people waving their Aadhaar cards at him, and Ahmad's irritation rises as he keeps repeating that they are not valid. 'Get a domicile certificate fast,' he tells those in the queue. Ahmad admits he is racing against time. 'Of the 1,456 voters in this booth, I have been able to upload filled-up forms of only 20 as the word of the EC exercise has reached late and people are yet to realise the importance of the exercise. The relatives of over 20% of the voters who do not live in the village are the most worried about how they would get enrolled.' Rosy Begum, 25, says her husband Badruddin works in Russia and 'comes back to the village during the elections'. The BLO tells her he has the option to apply online, but Rosy doesn't look too reassured. Over 60 km away, in Hardar village in Araria, the news of the EC revision has barely reached. Once, Araria carried weight in Bihar politics for being the turf of the late RJD leader Mohammed Taslimuddin, but now it ranks low in the priority list. Mohammed Shamim, 40, a madrasa teacher, says no one he knows has been approached by a BLO so far. 'We do not know what to do. We only have Aadhaar cards.' Mohammed Yasin says he never got birth certificates made of his two sons. 'We are anxious about what would happen if we lose our votes,' he says, wondering about 'the government's intentions'. Requesting anonymity, at least three BLOs in Purnia, Araria and Kishanganj districts say that even if it is an exercise to remove illegal voters, very little planning appears to have gone into it. 'The process of revision will leave out a fair number of voters, genuine or otherwise,' says one of them. The Mahagathbandhan has given a call for Bihar Bandh on July 9 on the issue. But fear that their voters may find themselves unable to vote has also left unease in NDA ranks. While JD(U) and Lok Janshakti Party workers talk of a 'negative fallout' in private, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha has said publicly that the EC must address 'people's concerns and apprehensions'. In the Kasba and Dhamdaha blocks of Purnia district, close to the Bengal border, Bengali is spoken commonly, besides the local Surjapuri dialect. At Mallik Rampur village here, Mohammed Naushad, 21, who takes up odd jobs for a living, says he has no papers to show, and is done caring. 'Koi kaagaz nahin hain. Zyada se zyada kya hoga, Bangladesh bhej dega (I have no papers. What is the worst that can happen? They will send me to Bangladesh),' he says. As the elders around him try to reassure him, Mohammed Yusuf, sitting some distance away, says the EC's move has changed the political discourse. 'People were discussing Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad or Prashant Kishor all these days. Now we are discussing if we are voters or not.' The joy of Mohammed Shamsher, 60, a daily wager at Idgah Chowk, among the few to have procured an enrolment form, proves short-lived as he realises that neither Aadhaar, nor his bank passbook or MNREGS card can help him fill it. 'I have no other papers, no domicile certificate. Everyone asks for bribes to issue these papers,' Shamsher says. 'We are better off without voting.' In Khataghat village in another part of the district, Mohammed Rizwan, 25, has decided to take matters in his own hands. He has been sharing all information received on the exercise on a WhatsApp group of their Shersabadi community. 'We know the power of our vote, and want to ensure genuine voters don't get left out.'
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Kuki MLAs to boycott Manipur's new govt post President's rule
IMPHAL: Manipur's Kuki-Zo community has resolved that its 10 MLAs, including seven from BJP, will not participate in any govt formation if President's rule ends in the state. The move marks a sharp escalation in the state's ethnic and political divide. The decision came at a joint meeting of key Kuki-Zo civil society organisations and community bodies held Friday at Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) secretariat. Representatives from KIM and its units attended alongside district units and department heads. Manipur has been under President's Rule since Feb amid continuing ethnic unrest between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, which erupted in May 2023. The joint meeting has adopted a resolution asserting that the community would never compromise on its ancestral land, culture, identity, and its political, social, and economic rights. While the statement stopped short of making any demand for statehood or administrative separation, the unified declaration is seen as a direct challenge to any attempt at political normalisation in Manipur without addressing Kuki-Zo grievances in Manipur.
The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
July 9 strike against Centre's policies; for workers and unemployed: Amarjeet Kaur
The strike called by ten Central Trade Unions on July 9 on 17-point charter of demands is against the policies of the Narendra Modi government and for both the unemployed and the workers, said senior trade union leader and All India Trade Union Congress general secretary Amarjeet Kaur. In an interview to The Hindu, she said the strike is very significant to prepare working class and the farming community and agricultural labourers for a long drawn battle. Questioning the government move to curb trade union rights, she said investors are not coming to India not because of workers, but because of the government policy of promoting one or two companies. Excerpts from the interview: What is the relevance of this strike compared to other years? The relevance of this strike is that this will be beginning of larger movements in India. Enough is enough. This Government has stopped recruitments. They are not creating jobs for the youth. Instead, they have started recruiting those who are already retired for lesser salaries and without any social security. They have done this in Railways and in the steel sector. There are about 15 lakh notified job openings in Central Government and in Central Public Sector Undertakings. But the Government is in no mood to appoint people, rather is outsourcing and contractualising many jobs. The direction is very clear, unemployment will be very, very serious in this country. For existing employees, they have decided not to revive old pension scheme (OPS). They say they will go ahead with Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). Now, the UPS is more bad than the National Pension System (NPS). Once you opt for UPS, you have no other option to shift to NPS or to OPS. And thirdly, they have continued with the policy which we opposed — the Employment Linked Incentive. They are using workers' money in Employees Provident Fund Organisation to fund employers. We demand increasing the work days under MGNREGA, a national minimum wage for all sectors of ₹26000 per month, a minimum PF pension of ₹9000 per month and a monthly pension of ₹6000 for those who are not covered under any pension schemes. Has the Government held any discussions with you on this charter? Last year when we met Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and made a detailed presentation about our demands. He told us that he will study these demands. But instead, the government was trying to implement the four Labour Codes, which stand against the labour rights we have in this country. This government does not believe in consultation. The Indian Labour Conference has not been convened for more than a decade. We asked Mr. Mandaviya to convene ILC. In March, Mr. Mandaviya said the Centre will implement Labour Codes. We decided to burn the copies of Labour Codes the day it gets implemented and will strike work on May 20. Considering the situation along the borders, we later postponed the strike to July 20. But the government had no such considerations. The Prime Minister's Office is sending advisory letters to all the state governments and telling them to change the labour laws as per labour codes. Government and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh have been saying that the States are implementing Labour Codes and the protests should be directed towards them. Except the BJP-run State governments, nobody has notified these codes. This is very clear to the central government. So they are playing a double game. The Centre amalgamated 29 laws and codified them. On the basis of codes, Centre is asking State governments to change their rules and Acts. Trade unions will fight the state governments and we have been fighting. We had warned States against implementing Labour Codes. We will fight it. Government says that Codes are necessary for ease of doing business and for attracting investments… They are intimidating State governments that there will be no investments in states if Labour Codes are not implemented. States have to follow Indian constitution and our label laws. Serious employers and investors know that stability is important and industrial peace is key for industrial growth. The reason for declining investment is not workers. It's because of our government's economic and social policies and also the global economic slowdown. Why should foreign investors come into a country where communal attacks are normal? Law and order is a serious question. Crony capitalism is another hurdle for investors. Most of the resources are being handed over to Adani and Ambani. Why will investors come when they know that our government is standing with two corporates and in this competition, there is no win-win situation. So workers are not responsible for this. Workers agitations are suppressed here. How many sectors will respond to this strike this time? The strike notices are served at banks, insurance companies, steel sector, coal sector, minerals and petroleum sector, copper sector and in some airports. Rail workers will have mobilisations in support of strike, but no strike there. Defence sector is going on strike. They have given strike notices everywhere. All the states, government employees have given strike notice. We will have a 'band-like' of situation in Asam, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Punjab, Bihar, Kerala, West Bengal and in many other States. Opposition parties have been approached by the unions, and they have extended their support. The message has gone. Workers in unions affiliated with the BMS have pledged support. This strike is very significant to prepare working class and the farming community and agricultural labourers for a long drawn battle.
