By News18
Can you imagine that just a word has the potential to create a law and order situation? Worse, just an alteration of a word can put a strife-torn state at risk? While it may seem unbelievable, something similar has happened in Manipur, where staggered ethnic violence has been ongoing since May 2023 and the state is currently under President鈥檚 Rule.
WHAT鈥橲 THE FUSS?
Former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh has strongly objected to what he calls a 鈥渄istorted version鈥 of the Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas Committee) Order, 1972. He alleges that this altered version has caused a rapid and unregulated increase in the number of villages and has resulted in the illegal appointment of village chiefs and headmen in the hill regions of the state.
For the uninitiated, the Kukis鈥攐ne of the ethnic tribes and sides of the Manipur ethnic clashes鈥攍ive in the hills.
Singh shot off a letter to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, urging him to immediately intervene and address this critical discrepancy between the original Gazette of India notification and the version published in the State Assembly鈥檚 Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. 鈥淭here appears to be a serious and potentially deliberate alteration in the text,鈥 Singh wrote.
Elaborating on the discrepancy, Singh said the Gazette of India notification bears the word 鈥渙f鈥 in the clause鈥斺淭he appointment of succession of Chiefs or Headman鈥濃攚hile the manipulated version printed in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business by the Manipur Legislative Assembly has the word 鈥渙r鈥 in the clause鈥斺淭he appointment or succession of Chief or Headman.鈥
Singh insists that this seemingly simple alteration is 鈥渄istortion with profound administrative and political implications鈥. By changing the word 鈥渙f鈥 to 鈥渙r鈥, the meaning of the rule has been expanded, making it possible to allow fresh appointments of chiefs or headmen, instead of just overseeing the traditional system of succession, he insists.
WHY IT鈥橲 IMPORTANT
Singh alleged, 鈥淭his change, whether intentional or inadvertent, has given rise to an environment where new villages can be declared and new village chiefs or headmen can be appointed without the customary legitimacy or legal clarity.鈥
What makes it even more serious is Singh鈥檚 charge that it may open unchecked proliferation of villages, 鈥渕any of which may not have existed historically or traditionally鈥. India鈥檚 Northeast, particularly Manipur, is extremely sensitive to preserve ethnic status quo, particularly when there has been a long and violent conflict that hasn鈥檛 been solved.
Manipur鈥檚 violent conflict broke out in May 2023 between two major communities鈥攖he predominantly Hindu Meitei community and the mostly Christian Kuki-Zomi tribal groups. Meiteis mostly live in the Imphal Valley while the Kuki-Zomis live mainly in the hill districts surrounding the valley. The immediate trigger was a protest by tribal groups on May 3, 2023, against a demand by Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The tribals feared this would give Meiteis access to land and benefits meant for hill tribes, kicking off a long cycle of violence in which more than 200 were killed and at least 60,000 displaced.
No wonder Singh rushed to the Governor, urging him for an independent inquiry to find out how and when this wording was altered and who is responsible for it.