Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh
| Photo Credit: PTI
Three principal organisations of the Zeliangrong community in ethnic strife-torn Manipur have asked Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh to constitute a District Reorganisation Commission to keep Naga villages out of Churachandpur and Kongpokpi, two districts dominated by the Kuki-Zo people.
Zeliangrong is a collective term for three Naga communities โ Zeme, Liangmai, and Rongmei. The Nagas and Kuki-Zo are two groups of tribes inhabiting the hills of Manipur while the non-tribal Meitei people dominate the central Imphal Valley.
In a memorandum to the Chief Minister a couple of days ago, the apex Zeliangrong Baudi, Zeliangrong Youth Front, and the Zeliangrong Studentsโ Union said the committee to redraw the districts should be formed during the monsoon session of the 60-member Manipur Assembly that began Wednesday, July 31. The session ends on August 6.
Forming the panel would fast-track the โalteration and amalgamation of Zeliangrong villagesโ in the Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts with the adjoining Noney and Tamenglong districts. The groups said hiving off these villages to the Naga-inhabited hill district (Tamenglong, out of which Noney was carved out) has been a demand dating back to the tenure of the late former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh.
The renewed demand has attained significance at a time when Manipur is divided along ethnic lines. The Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities have avoided travelling to each otherโs areas of dominance since ethnic conflict broke out in the State on May 3, 2023. There are hardly any Kuki-Zo people in the Imphal Valley while Meiteis have stayed away from the surrounding foothills.
Apart from non-tribal people, who are in the minority, the Nagas share space with the Meiteis in State capital Imphal and other areas of Imphal Valley. A few recent incidents, however, have threatened to disturb the peace between the Nagas and Meiteis in the valley.
One such incident involved some armed men shooting at a restaurant in the Khuman Lampak area of Imphal on July 26, injuring seven people, including a woman.
According to the Manipur Naga Youth Organisation, the incident was a case of targeted violence sparked by the armed miscreantsโ inappropriate behaviour and bid to outrage the modesty of a girl from Loushang village in the Naga-dominated Kamjong district.
Such โviolence, harassment, and intimidation continued toward the Naga minority community in Manipurโs valley areaโ will destroy the โlast remaining social fabricโ in the State, the organisation said in a statement on July 29.
