Why in news?

In Manipur’s Jiribam district, ten suspected militants, allegedly from the Hmar community under the Kuki-Zo umbrella, were killed in a shootout with security forces.

The incident began when armed groups launched attacks early in the day, targeting Meitei settlements and later a CRPF post and a local police station, injuring a CRPF constable.

The conflict reportedly intensified after a recent killing of a Hmar woman, with the Hmar Village Volunteers claiming those killed were "village volunteers" retaliating for her death. Prohibitory orders were imposed in Jiribam to prevent further violence. The incident prompted shutdowns in Kuki-Zo-majority districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi.

What’s in today’s article?

• Manipur Violence – Reasons
• The Flash Point – ST status for Meiteis
• Hmar Tribe

Violence in Manipur

• About
  • Violence between Manipur’s Kuki tribe and the majority Meitei community continued to rage in several parts of Manipur for many days.
    • The Imphal valley, which comprises about 10% of Manipur’s landmass, is dominated by the non-tribal Meitei who account for more than 64% of the population of the State. This area yields 40 of the State’s 60 MLAs.
    • The hills comprising 90% of the geographical area are inhabited by more than 35% recognised tribes. This area sends only 20 MLAs to the Assembly.
  • Manipur has been restive since February 2023 when the state government launched an eviction drive seen as targeting a specific tribal group.
    • The drive led to protests but not on the scale of the one seen recently.
• Reasons behind the violence in Manipur
  • High Court’s order as a tigger point
    • The recent protests were triggered by the Manipur HC’s direction to the State to pursue a 10-year-old recommendation to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the non-tribal Meitei community.
    • The Court’s order has brought the historical tensions between the valley-dwelling Meitei community and the state’s hill tribes to a boil.
  • Violence started
    • A ‘tribal solidarity march’ was organised by the All-Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM) against the order of the High Court.
    • Violent clashes broke out at various places in Manipur during the course of this march.

Flash Point – ST status for Meiteis

• Meitei community want ST status
  • There has been an organised push in support of this demand for at least since 2012, led by the Scheduled Tribes Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM).
  • Recognised as tribe before merger with India
    • In their plea before the High Court, it was argued that the Meitei community was recognised as a tribe before the merger of the princely state of Manipur with the Union of India in 1949.
    • It lost its identity as a tribe after the merger.
  • Need to preserve tradition and culture
    • The demand for ST status arose from the need to preserve the community, and save the ancestral land, tradition, culture and language of the Meiteis.
    • As per the arguments forwarded by the community in the court:
      • The community has been victimised without any constitutional safeguards to date.
      • They have been gradually marginalised in their ancestral land.
      • Their population which was 59% of the total population of Manipur in 1951 has now been reduced to 44% as per 2011 Census data.
• Why Tribal groups of Manipur are opposing ST status for Meiteis?
  • The tribal groups say the Meiteis have a demographic and political advantage besides being more advanced than them academically and in other aspects.
    • The Meiteis are a dominant group controlling the state and its apparatuses.
    • Hence, the claim that Meiteis need ST status to protect their culture and identity is self-defeating.
  • They feel the ST status to the Meiteis would lead to loss of job opportunities and allow them to acquire land in the hills and push the tribals out.
  • The Manipuri language of the Meiteis is included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
  • Sections of the Meitei community — which is predominantly Hindu — are already classified under Scheduled Castes (SC) or Other Backward Classes (OBC).

Hmar tribe

• About
  • The Hmar tribe is an indigenous ethnic group primarily residing in the northeastern states of India, such as Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, and parts of Tripura.
  • They are believed to be part of the larger Mizo-Kuki-Chin ethnic group, tracing their origins to the Chin Hills of Myanmar.
  • They are recognised as Scheduled Tribe under the Constitution of India.
• Origin
  • The Hmar claim to be descended from the Singlung region in central or southwest China.
• Ethnicity and Language
  • The Hmars belong to the group of the Sino-Tibeto-Burman family of the Mongolian race.
  • Their language, Hmar, also belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family.
  • It shares linguistic similarities with Mizo and other related dialects of the Kuki-Chin group.
• Society
  • Traditionally clan-based, with extended families organized into clans & sub-clans.
  • Hmars society is patriarchal society, and follow the so-called ultimogeniture system of succession and inheritance.
    • Ultimogeniture is an inheritance system where the youngest child inherits the estate. 
  • But sometimes the eldest and the youngest sons enjoy equal shares in inheritance.
• Economic Activities
  • The Hmars engage primarily in agriculture, practicing both traditional shifting cultivation (jhum) and settled farming.
  • Key crops include rice, maize, vegetables, and sometimes cotton.