Manipur tribal body seeks Shah’s intervention to stop transfer of Kuki police personnel

A tribal body in Majipur on Friday requested Union Home Minister Shah to intervene and stop the transfer of Kuki police personnel to Meitei majority areas of the state. This is why the recent order by Manipurs Director General of Police which ordered the immediate transfer of more than a hundred Kuki-Zo tribal police personnel to Meitei-majority areas is unacceptable, the statement read.

A tribal body in Majipur on Friday requested Union Home Minister Shah to intervene and stop the transfer of Kuki police personnel to Meitei majority areas of the state. In a letter to Shah, Churachandpur district-based Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) termed the recently issued transfer orders of those police personnel ''unacceptable''. Three tribal security personnel who were trying to report for duty were waylaid by a mob in Moirang and were beaten up before being rescued by central security forces recently, the ITLF claimed. “This is why the recent order by Manipur’s Director General of Police… which ordered the immediate transfer of more than a hundred Kuki-Zo tribal police personnel to Meitei-majority areas is unacceptable,” the statement read. Claiming that the order is a ploy by the “communal state government” to target Kuki-Zo police personnel, the ITLF urged Shah to stop the order before disciplinary action is taken against them. The order issued on February 14 directed the transfer of 177 police personnel, mostly of Havildar rank, from their current station to other areas..

More than 180 people were killed since the violence erupted on May 3 last year 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, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.