Chidambaram slams centre, state for 'ethnic cleansing'
Source: Chronicle News Service
New Delhi/Imphal, September 03 2023:
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday alleged that "ethnic cleansing is complete" in Manipur's Imphal Valley and said there can be nothing more "shameful" than this development.
The former home minister cited a media report which claimed that the last five Kuki families in Imphal were "forcibly removed" from their homes by the authorities.
"This means that "ethnic cleansing" is complete in the Imphal Valley that is dominated by the Meitei people," he said in a post on X .
"A state government presides over "ethnic cleansing" and the central government claims that the government of the state is being carried on in accordance with the Constitution," Chidambaram said.
There can be nothing more shameful than this development, he said.
"It marks a new low in India's descent into lawlessness," Chidambaram said.
More than 160 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur in early May after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.
Nagas and Kukis constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts as well as in the plains.
Chidambaram comments refer to government of Manipur shifting the last of Kuki families comprising 24 members from New Lambulane area where they had been living for decades and did not move elsewhere even after the ethnic violence broke out four months ago.
These families were taken to the Kuki-dominated Motbung in Kangpokpi district early on Saturday, as they had become "vulnerable targets".
However, Kuki families alleged that they were forcibly evicted from their residences in the New Lambulane area to Motbung with S Prim Vaiphei, one of the volunteers guarding the Kuki locality, claiming that a "team of uniformed armed personnel claiming to be acting under directions from the Home Department came to New Lambulane, Imphal in the intervening night of September 1 and 2 and forcibly evicted the last remaining residents of the Kuki locality in Imphal from their homes".
Around 300 tribal families, who were living in the New Lambulane area, had earlier left the place in phases since the ethnic violence began on May 3 .
(with inputs from PTI) .