Manipur clashes: Meitei groups draw parallel with Kashmiri Pandits

New Delhi: As tension continues to simmer in Manipur, members of the majority Meitei group on Thursday said they are at the risk of “ethnic cleansing” in their own state while comparing their precarious situation with that of Kashmiri Pandits.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, members of the World Meetei Council also came down heavily on the state and the central government, and rued that they have been unable to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah despite several attempts.
Clashes broke out in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
The violence was preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.
“The incidents that happened in Manipur were pre-planned. We kept warning the government that something like this may happen… We are today in a situation similar to what the Kashmiri Pandits faced,” Nabashyam Heigrujam, president of civil society group World Meitei Council, said.
“We are at the risk of ethnic cleansing in our own state,” he claimed.