On 31 August 2015 the Manipur Assembly passed three bills meant to protect the state's "indigenous" people from outsiders. That evening protesters in the hill town of Churachandpur burned lawmakers' homes, and police later opened fire. Nine people on the protesting side died, and their families refused burial for 632 days. The President withheld assent to the main bill in May 2016, and the last eight bodies were buried on 24 May 2017 after a deal with the new state government.
Key takeaways
- The Manipur Assembly passed three bills on 31 August 2015 to regulate outsiders' entry, land purchase and business; tribal groups in Churachandpur called them "anti-tribal".
- Police fired on protesters, saying they acted in self-defence. Nine people died, including a boy aged 10 or 11.
- President Pranab Mukherjee withheld assent to the Protection of Manipur People Bill on 11 May 2016.
- Eight bodies were buried on 24 May 2017, 632 days later, after an agreement with the new state government that promised compensation, jobs and a "proper investigation" of the firing.
Background: the Inner Line Permit demand
Through 2015, groups in the Imphal valley, where the Meitei community is the majority, campaigned for an Inner Line Permit (ILP) style system to regulate the entry of outsiders into Manipur. The campaign was led by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS). On 25 August 2015 the Congress government of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh signed an agreement with the JCILPS to enact three laws to protect indigenous people IANS and AP via Gulf News.
The three bills were the Protection of Manipur People Bill 2015, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill 2015. They defined who the "Manipur people" were and sought to restrict outsiders from entering the state, buying land and setting up business Scroll. Legislator N. Biren Singh said the law asked people to prove their families lived in Manipur before 1951 IANS and AP via Gulf News.
Why the hill tribes objected
Land in the hill districts cannot be owned by Meiteis, while tribal people can own land in the valley. People in Churachandpur, mostly Paite and Kuki, saw the bills as "a conspiracy" by the majority community to grab tribal land The Wire. The All Tribal Students Union Manipur, the Kuki Students Organisation and the All Naga Students Association Manipur said the bills overlapped with Article 371C of the Constitution and the Manipur Hill People Administration Regulation Act, 1947 IANS via Gulf News.
Anger also fell on tribal legislators. "We are not happy with the government, and especially with our elected legislators who remained tight-lipped when the bill was passed," KSO spokesman Minlan Gangte said IANS.
What happened in Churachandpur
The three student bodies called a 12-hour bandh in the hill districts on 31 August, the day the bills were passed CJP, citing PTI. That evening crowds in Churachandpur set fire to the homes of Health and Family Welfare Minister Phungzathang Tonsing, the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha MP and several MLAs, including Manga Vaiphei of Henglep and Vungzagin Valte of Thanlom. None of the lawmakers were home IANS and AP. PTI counted six houses, including that of the chairman of the Assembly's Hill Areas Committee PTI via Business Standard. AP reported the homes of seven lawmakers were burned.
The mob also burned the Deputy Commissioner's vehicle, and an indefinite curfew was imposed. Three bullet-riddled bodies were found that night and four more the next day, and a charred body was recovered from Manga Vaiphei's house, PTI quoted police as saying The Daily Star, citing PTI.
On 1 September a crowd defied the curfew and set fire to a police station in the town, and police opened fire IANS and AP. Internet services were suspended from that evening "to check the spread of rumours", officials said IANS. Arson continued for days: government offices were burned, and the minister's house was attacked again PTI via Assam Tribune PTI via Assam Tribune.
How many died, and how
PTI put the toll at eight by 3 September, a count that included a motorcyclist who skidded on boulders strewn by agitators PTI. Later reports settled on nine people killed on the protesting side, including a boy who was 10 or 11 years old The Wire Newslaundry. IANS reported in 2016 that at least 10 people had died in the agitation as a whole: nine opposing the bills and one supporting them IANS via Business Standard.
How each person died is not settled. Claim · Tribal groups All nine were killed by police using live bullets. Claim · The Wire's reporting Although most reports said all nine died in police firing, "some actually died due to burn injuries from fires that were started by the agitators" The Wire. No inquiry finding on the cause of each death has been reported.
Timeline
Bills passed, homes burned
The Assembly passes all three bills unanimously. The Speaker sends them to the Governor the same day IANS. Homes are burned that evening.
JAC formed, bodies not claimed
A Joint Action Committee of Churachandpur community leaders decides not to claim the bodies until the bills are withdrawn PTI.
"Tribal Unity Day"
Tribes from the hill districts mark one year; the JAC now demands a "separate administration" for the hills. Kuki groups stay away The Wire.
One body removed and buried
The boy's body is taken from the locked morgue and buried. The JAC accuses the state government of "stealing" it; the government and Kuki leaders deny involvement The Wire.
Agreement signed
On the 618th day, the JAC and the new BJP-led government sign a 9-point agreement Morung Express.
Burial after 632 days
The eight remaining bodies are buried at a memorial ground near Khuga Dam Morung Express.
The bodies in the morgue
The hospital had no morgue in 2015, so coffins were kept on ice until the government funded one The Wire. On 3 September 2015 the JAC wrote to the Chief Minister asking for an "Independent Judicial Enquiry" and said "all the death bodies shall not be laid to rest" until then JAC memorandum, via Virthli.
The nine martyrs will not be buried until and unless the government fulfils the demand of the tribal people.
H. Mangchinkhup, chief convenor, JAC, to Newslaundry, Sept 2016
Demands grew from withdrawal of the bills to a "separate administration" or Sixth Schedule status for the hills, and in 2017 a new Lamka district Scroll. In August 2016 several Kuki and Hmar bodies broke with the JAC Newslaundry.
Both accounts
Protesters' account
Tribal groups said the bills were passed without consulting the hill areas and would open tribal land to non-tribals The Wire. Claim · Manipur Tribals' Union A Bengaluru student body said police "massacred" civilians with live bullets while tear gas was used on Meitei protesters, and demanded the withdrawal of state commandos The News Minute. The JAC called the arson "the only option to express our displeasure" and said the dead had made "supreme sacrifices" JAC memorandum.
Police and government account
Government's position District police chief L. Mangkhogin Haokip said two members of an "unruly mob" were killed after police "were forced to opened fire at them in self-defence and to defend the police station" IANS. Ashok Kumar, secretary to the Chief Minister, said the land law amendment does not extend to the hill areas and blamed "misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the provisions" IANS. In January 2016 Ibobi Singh repeated that the bills were not anti-tribal and opposed central officials joining the talks IANS via The Sentinel.
The President and the Centre
The President's order said only: "I withhold assent from the bills." No reason was given IANS. IANS reported assent withheld from all three bills, but the 2017 agreement, citing a Home Ministry letter of 11 May 2016, said the Protection of Manipur People Bill was withheld and the other two were "pending with Government of India" Morung Express.
On 7 June 2016 Ibobi Singh led an all-party delegation to Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking assent Assam Tribune. A joint statement afterwards said the bills would be "re-examined by legal and constitutional experts" for a new law Assam Tribune. At a Churachandpur election rally on 2 March 2017, Rajnath Singh said that "if required, we will hand over the entire case to the CBI" The Wire.
Outcome
- Deaths: Nine on the protesting side, by most later counts; IANS counted 10 in the whole agitation.
- Bills: Assent withheld to the Protection of Manipur People Bill on 11 May 2016.
- Inquiry: A magisterial inquiry was ordered, but locals and the JAC did not allow the officer to conduct it, according to a 2016 report Newmai via Morung Express.
- Agreement: Rs 5 lakh and a permanent job for each victim's next of kin, Rs 50,000 each for 48 injured people, jobs and Rs 2 lakh each for 8 disabled people, memorials at Lamka and Singngat, and a promise to "ensure proper investigation on the incident of police firing" MoU text, via Virthli.
- Burial: Eight bodies buried on 24 May 2017, after 632 days.
What happened next
In July 2018 the Assembly unanimously passed a new Manipur People's (Protection) Bill, and in January 2019 Chief Minister N. Biren Singh pressed the Centre for the President's assent Scroll. On 11 December 2019 the Inner Line Permit regime was extended to Manipur by presidential order under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 DT Next/IANS.
No result of the promised investigation, and no prosecution, has been reported. No 2025 or 2026 reporting on the case was found.
Questions people ask
What were the three Manipur bills of 2015?
The Protection of Manipur People Bill, the Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill and the Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill, all passed on 31 August 2015.
How many people died in the Churachandpur protests?
Nine on the protesting side, by most later counts, including a boy aged 10 or 11. IANS counted 10 in the whole agitation, including one supporter of the bills.
Why were the bodies kept in a morgue for 632 days?
The families and the Joint Action Committee refused burial as a protest until their demands were met. Eight bodies were buried on 24 May 2017 after an agreement with the state government; the ninth had been buried in December 2016.
Did the President sign the Protection of Manipur People Bill?
No. President Pranab Mukherjee withheld assent on 11 May 2016 without giving a reason. The other two bills were described in 2017 as pending with the Centre.
Was anyone punished for the police firing?
No prosecution has been reported, and the promised investigation has no reported outcome.
Sources
- CJP (with PTI inputs): Three dead, houses of minister, two MLAs torched, 1 Sept 2015
- The Daily Star: Eight killed in Manipur violence, 1 Sept 2015
- IANS and AP via Gulf News: Two more deaths takes Manipur violence toll to six, 1 Sept 2015
- IANS via Gulf News: Curfew relaxed, internet suspended in Manipur, 2 Sept 2015
- PTI via Business Standard: Curfew relaxed in Churachandpur, toll in violence climbs to 8, 3 Sept 2015
- PTI via Assam Tribune: 2 govt offices burnt down in Churachandpur, 3 Sept 2015
- PTI via Assam Tribune: Manipur Minister's house attacked, 4 Sept 2015
- Virthli: JAC memorandum to Chief Minister, Manipur, 3 Sept 2015
- The News Minute: Tribals of Manipur fear land grab, 6 Sept 2015
- IANS via The Sentinel: Congress opposes Centre's talks over Manipur bills, 12 Jan 2016
- Newmai via Morung Express: ILP Bills: 'Cut-off year not feasible', 17 May 2016
- IANS via Business Standard: President withheld assent to 3 anti-migrant bills a month ago, 7 June 2016
- Assam Tribune: Ibobi apprises Rajnath on Presidential Assent, 7 June 2016
- Assam Tribune: Centre likely to relook at Manipur Bills, 8 June 2016
- Newslaundry: In Manipur, protest is kept alive by the dead, 1 Sept 2016
- The Wire: In Manipur, the long wait to bury tribal 'martyrs' enters second year, 2 Sept 2016
- The Wire: In Manipur's Churachandpur, tribal 'martyrs' and a 'stolen' corpse, Feb 2017
- The Wire: Eighteen months on, Rajnath Singh assures CBI inquiry into Churachandpur killings, Mar 2017
- The Wire: The freezing and thawing of the Churachandpur agitation, Apr 2017
- Newmai via Morung Express: Manipur's 'Tribal movement' ends, 10 May 2017
- Virthli: MoU signed between Govt of Manipur and JACAATB (text), 10 May 2017
- Scroll: At peace: Eight tribals killed in 2015 Manipur agitation to be buried this month, 13 May 2017
- Newmai via Morung Express: Bodies of 8 tribals finally laid to rest in Manipur, 24 May 2017
- The Wire: Photo essay: Eight bodies finally put to rest in Manipur's Churachandpur, 25 May 2017
- Scroll: Manipur BJP government to oppose Citizenship Bill if clause to protect indigenous people is left out, 17 Jan 2019
- DT Next/IANS: Inner Line Permit regime extended to Manipur, Nagaland's Dimapur, 11 Dec 2019