Europe Manipur Group Shares Concerns With Indian High Commission In UK

Manipur is yet to see normalcy over a year since ethnic violence began in May 2023

New Delhi:

A civil society group of people from Manipur living in Europe has requested the Indian High Commission in the UK to convey their concerns to leaders back home over the ethnic tensions in the state bordering Myanmar.

The European Manipuri Association (EMA) in a statement said it gave a memorandum to Vikram K Doraiswami, the High Commissioner of India to Britain, explaining five key points about the Manipur crisis.

EMA chairperson Sagolsem Biramani in the statement said they submitted copies of several documents “on the history of Kuki refugees of the 1960s” and how this issue has links with the unrest in Manipur at present.

The EMA said they gave the High Commissioner a copy of a police case filed against an Indian-origin man in the UK who has been charged with allegedly inciting people in Manipur with his online messages and talk sessions on a social media platform.

“We requested the High Commission of India to look into the matter, and discussed the need to stop the spread of disinformation by Indian-origin people abroad which could incite more violence,” the EMA said in the statement.

The EMA said they raised the comment by a former top officer of the Border Security Force (BSF) who called for shifting out a particular central security force from Manipur in order to stabilise the situation.

“We stressed on the need to prioritise the Indo-Myanmar border fencing for our own internal security and shield ourselves from the turmoil in the neighbouring country that could carry on for decades,” the EMA said in the statement.

The Minister (Coordination) in the High Commission of India, Deepak Choudhary, asked EMA to work for dialogue with all communities to build confidence towards bringing peace and harmony in Manipur, the EMA said.

“The Minister (Coordination) promised the visiting team that he would convey the concerns of the diaspora to the authorities concerned in Delhi,” the EMA said.

According to the EMA, the key points in their memorandum were: give sincere efforts, without partiality, to restore law and order in Manipur; provide immediate rehabilitation and adequate compensation to all internally displaced people; prioritise Indo-Myanmar border fencing and secure it with the BSF to stop transnational terrorism, drugs and arms trafficking; stop deforestation; prevent the expansion of the ‘Golden Triangle’ into Manipur, and identify illegal immigrants.

Over the last year, the clashes between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis — a term given by the British in colonial times — who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram, want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.