The Central Government has constituted an
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to adjudicate the November 13 ban on
Meitei extremist groups in Manipur.
The tribunal formed by the Ministry of
Home Affairs or MHA comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi from Gauhati High
Court will adjudicate whether there was sufficient cause for declaring the
Manipur Meitei extremist groups.
The extremist groups include the Peoples’
Liberation Army, and its political wing, the Revolutionary Peoples’ Front, the
United National Liberation Front and its armed wing, the Manipur Peoples’ Army,
the Peoples’ Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak and its armed wing, the Red Army,
the Kangleipak Communist Party and its armed wing, also called the Red Army,
the Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup, the Coordination Committee and the Alliance for
Socialist Unity Kangleipak, along with all their factions, wings and front
organisations as ‘unlawful associations’.
On November 13, the MHA declared at least
nine Meitei extremist organisations, which mainly operate in Manipur, as “unlawful
associations” under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for a period
of five years.
A notification issued by the Home
Ministry stated the groups have been prohibited for allegedly “engaging in
activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India”.
The groups have been declared unlawful
associations to control their “secessionist, subversive, terrorist and violent
activities”.
Making the announcement, the Central Government
also pointed out that these organisations have, as their professed aim, “establishment
of an independent nation by the secession of Manipur from Bharat through armed
struggle and to incite indigenous people of Manipur for such secession”.
Manipur Riots
More than 170 people have been killed
and several hundred others injured since ethnic clash first broke out in the State
on May 3 when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was held in hill districts to protest
against the Meitei community’s demand for ST status.
NE Watch Desk
