Manipur Violence: Union Minister RK Ranjan’s House Set On Fire

In Manipur Friday night, a crowd of over 1,000 people attacked a Union Minister’s house, the latest act of violence in the northeastern state that has been the scene of battles between two groups over the demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

Officials stated that Union Minister RK Ranjan Singh was not present at the Imphal house at the time of the event. According to a security guard inside the minister’s home. The mob threw petrol bombs from all directions during the attack.

“We couldn’t prevent the incident as the mob was overwhelming and we couldn’t control the situation. They threw petrol bombs coming in from all directions.. from the bye lane behind the building and from the front entrance. so we simply could ‘Don’t control the mob,’ L Dineshwor Singh, Escort Commander, said.

Some 1,200 people, according to the escort commander, were a part of the crowd. This is the second time a mob has attacked the minister’s house.

Security forces opened fire during the incident in May to disperse the mob. there were clashes in Manipur, after a “Tribal Solidarity March” in the hill regions on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community’s desire for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

I am currently in Kerala for official work. Thankfully, nobody got injured last night at my Imphal home. The miscreants came with petrol bombs and damage has been done to the ground floor and first floor of my home: Mos MEA Rajkumar Ranjan Singh to ANI

— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2023

In Manipur, tension over the eviction of Kuki people from reserve forest land had caused a number of smaller agitations. In Manipur, tribal groups like the Nagas and Kukis are second in number behind the Meiteis.

RK Ranjan Singh, the minister of state for external affairs and education, met with a delegation of academics from the Meitei and Kuki groups in Manipur last month to discuss ways to restore peace to the violent northeast state. The minister also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “identify and condemn” local politicians who could be responsible for the trouble in Manipur.

“We are not to blame any community or ethnic group… The harmonious relations among ethnic groups are often violated by leaders for getting their political ends. Myopic politicians often play with the lives and emotions of the common people… They have done enough damage to society. Their tactics trigger unimaginable losses, for instance, the present ethnic inferno. Such local leaders must be identified and condemned,” Mr. Singh wrote in a letter to PM Modi on May 21.

Since May 3, more than 100 people have died due to the clashes between the Meiteis, who inhabit in and around the state capital Imphal Valley, and the Kuki tribe, who have taken up residence in the hills, over the valley residents’ demand for membership in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.