Tribes in Manipur object to AFSPA being limited to hill districts 

Apex bodies of Kuki, Zomi and Naga tribes in Manipur strongly objected to Manipur govt's notification extending AFSPA in hill districts only. They termed it "oppressive" and "biased". NSCST had recommended review of AFSPA in hill areas as they had become peaceful.

The apex bodies of Kuki, Zomi and Naga tribes in Manipur on September 28 strongly objected to the Manipur government’s notification extending the operation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for six months only in the hill districts of the State. 

The steering committee of the Zomi Council (apex body for Zomi tribes in Manipur) said it had shot off a memorandum to the Union Home Minister on Thursday highlighting the “partisan mindset” and “discriminatory policies” of the Manipur government. The Kuki Inpi (apex body of Kuki tribes) and the United Naga Council (apex body of Naga tribes) both questioned the notification exempting valley regions from AFSPA. They termed the move “oppressive” and “biased”.

The Hindu had reported on Thursday that the Indian Army had recommended the extension of AFSPA in the valley regions saying the absence of it was hindering operations against insurgent groups — ones that have regained a foothold during the ongoing ethnic conflict after a lull of many years. These secessionist groups mostly operate from Myanmar. 

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, in its latest review conducted in December 2022, had recommended that imposition of AFSPA in the hill areas should be reviewed because the areas had become peaceful and had pointed out that the Act had been withdrawn in 15 police districts of the valley region. 

On Thursday, the Zomi Council steering committee said it explained to the Home Minister “how the exclusion of Meitei territories and Meitei-dominated areas from the notification only once again exemplified the Manipur government’s deep-seated discrimination against the Scheduled Tribes of the State”. 

It added that the newly exempted police districts in the notification “are areas where Meitei armed radicals like Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun combined forces with the proscribed Meitei insurgent groups to set up their bases”.

Kuki Inpi Manipur secretary H. Gangte said, “The fact of the matter is that the valley area is inarguably the most disturbed area in Manipur with numerous protests turning violent wherein the security forces have to resort to firing of tear gas and use of force to disperse the irate crowd as opposed to the tribal areas which are relatively peaceful with zero reports of any form of uproar or social unrest in the past few months.”