Plea in SC seeks access to reports onnd Manipur riots, arrest of ‘radical’ elements
The Manipur Tribals Forum, Delhi (MTFD) has approached the Supreme Court with an intervening application, seeking that the two committees constituted by the court — one headed by former Director General of Police Dattatray Padsalgikar and the other by Justice Gita Mittal (retired) — 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 outts Arambai Tenggol and Meitei 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 con ict.
The State has been seeing an ethnic con ict 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.
In the plea led by the MTFD, the petitioners said outts such as the Arambai Tenggol and the Meitei Leepun were allegedly “preparing for a new onslaught” on the tribal community after the Lok Sabha elections.
“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 rst rounds of attack,” they said.
They added that they have sent as many as ve 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.