Imphal: Rioters set fire to the homes of seven lawmakers during a rampage to protest new legislation defining who can claim to be from the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, police said Tuesday.
Two more people were killed and a police station was set afire on Tuesday, as the toll in the violence that started on Monday in Manipur’s Churachandpur district over three bills passed in the assembly rose to six.
Violating an indefinite curfew in place in the town, a mob went on a rampage in the streets and set ablaze a police station in Churachandpur town, as police fired blanks to disperse the mob.
“Two people, who were part of the unruly mob, were killed after we [police] were forced to opened fire at them in self-defence and to defend the police station,” district police chief L. Mangkhogin Haokip told IANS.
With Tuesday’s deaths, the toll has risen to six.
Police imposed a curfew Tuesday night and deployed paramilitary forces amid heavy tension in Churachandpur town 70km (42 miles) southwest of the state capital of Imphal.
Lawmaker N. Biren Singh said the law demanding people provide proof that their families lived in Manipur before 1951 is aimed at keeping “outsiders” including migrants from settling in the state bordering Myanmar. But Singh said authorities had no plans to begin checking documents soon.
“Those who are protesting may be harbouring fears the authorities might now start looking at relevant documents to see if anyone has settled down in the state after 1951,” Singh said.
The protesters said that setting such a limit excludes many who arrived legitimately after that date or who don’t have proper documents.
Violence erupted on Monday evening following the Manipur government’s adoption of three landmark bills — Protection of Manipur People Bill 2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (seventh amendment) Bill 2015, and Manipur Shops and Establishment (second amendment) Bill 2015.
The bills were unanimously passed in the assembly on Monday after the ruling Congress signed an agreement with the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) on August 25 to enact three laws to protect the interest of the indigenous people.
The mob on Monday evening attacked the residence of five Congress lawmakers, including that of state Health and Family Welfare Minister Phungzathang Tonsing and Outer Manipur Lok Sabha member Thangsoi Baite. However, none of the lawmakers were at their residences.
Three bodies were found in Churachandpur town and a charred body was recovered from the debris at the residence of Congress legislator Manga Vaiphei of Henglep assembly constituency on Tuesday, the police official said.
The mob on Monday evening also set afire the vehicle of Churachandpur Deputy Commissioner Lunminthang Haokip and prevented fire engines from dousing the flames, even as police were forced to resort to a baton charge.
Tribal civil society groups — All Tribal Students Union Manipur (ATSUM) AKuki Students Organisation (KSO) and All Naga Students Association Manipur, (ANSAM) — opposed the introduction of the bills, saying they overlapped with some points in the Manipur Hill People Administration Regulation Act, 1947, meant to safeguard the interest of tribesmen in the hill areas of Manipur.
India’s remote northeastern region comprises a patchwork of ethnic and tribal communities who are distributed unevenly across seven states and spilling over into neighbouring Myanmar. Tensions have erupted in recent years as those in India worry about refugees from Myanmar taking jobs and land.
