A tribal council in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district has decided to repatriate over 1,000 Kuki-Zo migrants who fled ethnic violence in Manipur, reported The Hindu on Wednesday.
The announcement was made by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tuliram Ronghang, chief executive member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council. The Karbis are the largest ethnic group in the district, which has a few Kuki settlements located mainly in Singhasan Hills.
“More than 1,000 Kukis from about 500 families came to the district recently",” Ronghang was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “I have invited the Karbi Students’ Union and Kuki village chiefs to a meeting on Thursday to discuss the matter so that we can give the migrants a good send-off.”
Ronghang was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Howraghat, around 180 kilometres from the state capital Guwahati.
He added: “The Kukis are tribals but they cannot settle down here in Karbi Anglong.”
Kuki representatives, however, denied that members of the community had recently settled in Karbi Anglong. One leader expressed surprise at Ronghang’s statement, saying that refugees who had fled to Karbi Anglong from Manipur had either returned to the state or elsewhere.
Karbi Lammet Amei, a Karbi literary body, had written to Ronghang last month claiming an “exodus” of Kuki refugees from Manipur entering the district. The group asked that the Kukis from Manipur not be given land in the jurisdiction of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and be placed in state-supervised shelters, according to The Indian Express.
Karbi groups have raised concerns about potential threats to the local demography. Mirjeng Kro of the Karbi Students’ Association told The Indian Express: “Our biggest worry is that it might not just be civilians, but also armed people coming and taking shelter in the hill areas here.”
Meitei man goes missing from military station
Tensions in Imphal West escalated after a 56-year-old Meitei man, Kamal Babu, disappeared from a military garrison. Babu has been missing since Monday after he left home for work at the Leimakhong Military Station.
The Army has launched a search operation in Leimakhong, located between Meitei-majority Imphal West and Kuki-majority Kangpokpi districts, reported The Indian Express.
The defence ministry said that officials were scanning closed circuit television footage and speaking to his co-workers as part of the search operation. Officials are using tracker dogs and drones to search for the man.
Meitei group calls for two-day shutdown
Adding to the unrest in Manipur, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity – an organisation of Meitei civil society groups – has announced a two-day shut-down of state and central government offices starting Wednesday, reported The Telegraph.
The organisation is demanding a review of the recent reimposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the jurisdictions of six police stations and action against Kuki-Zo armed groups.
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