Around 90 percent of the state’s area in hills accounts for 10 percent of its population, while the valley with just 10 percent land, is home to almost 60 percent of the people. Out of the 60 seats, the valley accounts for 40 assembly seats.
The Meitei community is demanding inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribe (ST). Those demanding ST status claimed that there is a need to protect the valley inhabited by the Meitei community. Manipur’s hill area has already been protected as a scheduled tribe. The BJP led government has claimed that the process is on to include Meiteis in the ST list. These people added, “BJP led government is projecting introduction of Inner Line permit for Manipur as one of its major achievements in the poll-bound state. In 2019, ILP was introduced in Manipur at the height of agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). However, this ILP is without many teeth.”
In March last year, the Manipur government stated it has been taking all humanitarian steps including taking the injured Myanmarese refugees to Imphal. Then, three Myanmar nationals who were allegedly fired upon by Myanmar’s security forces were rushed to a hospital in Manipur. They were among a group of Myanmar nationals trying to enter India.
