Manipur: Meitei group Arambai Tenggol puts ‘conditions’ before governor for giving up arms

Representatives of the armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol on Tuesday met Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla in Imphal and put forward conditions to surrender looted weapons.

The organisation’s Public Relations Officer Robin Mangang said that the meeting with the governor was positive and that “normalcy would soon return” in the northeastern state. “If our terms are fulfilled, we will give them [the weapons] up…” he told reporters.

On February 20, the governor had urged all communities in the state to surrender looted weapons within a week, adding that no punitive action would be taken against those who complied within the deadline.

In its memorandum to the governor, Mangang listed the conditions that include the construction of a fence along India’s border with Myanmar, implementation of the National Register of Citizens in the state with 1951 as the base year, deportation of “all illegal immigrants to their native places” and “reinstatement” of Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei community.

The Manipur High Court’s March 2023 order, which was made public a month later, had directed the state government to consider the inclusion of the Meiteis in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

The order had played a key role in triggering the ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities in the state. The ethnic violence has…

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