3 May 2023 — Current Affairs

Highlights

Manipur: Ethnic violence erupted on 3 May as a Kuki solidarity march turned violent. The trigger was a Manipur High Court direction on Meitei Scheduled Tribe status. Curfew was imposed across eight districts.
Geography: The Meitei-Kuki divide maps almost exactly onto the valley-hills geography of Manipur.
International Leopard Day: Officially recognised on 3 May 2023 by the Cape Leopard Trust.
WTO: The India-ICT tariff ruling provided the backdrop for ongoing FTA leverage concerns.

1. Manipur ethnic violence: the trigger, the communities and the law

GS area: Polity, Internal Security, Society

Violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities began on 3 May 2023. A tribal solidarity march turned into large-scale clashes. At least 258 people were killed and over 60,000 displaced by November 2024.

The geographic and demographic fault line:

Valley: About 10 per cent of Manipur's land. Home to the Meitei community, which comprises roughly 57 per cent of the state's population.
Hills: About 90 per cent of the land. Home to Kuki-Zo and Naga tribal communities, who form roughly 43 per cent of the population.
Assembly seats: 40 of Manipur's 60 Assembly constituencies are in the valley. This creates a structural imbalance between land, population and political power.

The legal trigger:

On 20 April 2023 the Manipur High Court issued a single-judge order directing the state government to "consider the request of the Meitei community to be included in the Scheduled Tribes list."
Kuki-Zo tribes feared that ST status for Meiteis would allow them to buy land in the hill areas. The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act 1960 currently prohibits non-tribal land purchase in tribal areas.

Constitutional position on ST inclusion:

Only Parliament can modify the ST list through legislation under Article 342(1). Courts cannot direct changes to it. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this in the case of Maharashtra versus Milind (2000).
The High Court order was therefore constitutionally questionable, a point the Supreme Court itself flagged.

Immediate government response:

Curfew in eight districts; shoot-on-sight orders on 4 May.
About 55 army columns deployed within three days. Nearly 10,000 troops by 6 May.
Internet blackout imposed and extended repeatedly through May.
Article 355 empowers the Union to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbances. Reports on 4 May indicated invocation without a formal notification.

Static linkage: Constitutional provisions on Scheduled Tribes, internal security, North-East India (Polity/Society).

2. What Article 342 says about Scheduled Tribes

GS area: Polity (Constitutional provisions)

The Manipur episode is a direct test of Article 342 and the limits of High Court jurisdiction.

Article 342(1): The President may, by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities to be regarded as Scheduled Tribes in relation to any state. This is done on the advice of the governor.
Article 342(2): Parliament may by law include or exclude groups from the list. No other authority can make this change.
Fifth and Sixth Schedules: The Fifth Schedule applies to scheduled areas and tribes in most states. The Sixth Schedule applies to tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Manipur's hill tribes: Nagas and Kuki-Zo groups hold ST status and the protections that come with it: reservation in education, jobs and the land-transfer restrictions that the High Court order threatened to unravel.

Static linkage: Scheduled Tribes, Fifth Schedule, Sixth Schedule (Polity).

3. International Leopard Day: conservation status

GS area: Environment (Biodiversity)

The Cape Leopard Trust officially launched International Leopard Day on 3 May 2023.

Scientific name: Panthera pardus. The leopard is the smallest member of the genus Panthera.
Adaptability: Nocturnal and highly adaptable to a range of habitats, from forests to semi-arid areas.
India's population: India's leopard count increased by 60 per cent between 2014 and 2018. Current estimate is about 13,000 individuals. Madhya Pradesh has the highest count.
Conservation status: IUCN: Vulnerable. CITES: Appendix I. Indian Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule I.

Static linkage: Biodiversity, wildlife conservation, India's protected areas (Environment).

4. AFSPA in the North-East: context

GS area: Polity (Internal security, fundamental rights)

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act gives armed forces extensive powers in "disturbed areas." Its relevance in Manipur is structural.

AFSPA, 1958: Applicable to North-East India. Empowers armed forces to arrest without warrant, search without warrant and use force with legal protection.
Disturbed Areas Act: A state or the Centre can declare an area disturbed under Section 3 of AFSPA. Manipur has been under AFSPA since the 1980s.
Supreme Court scrutiny: The Reddy Commission and the Supreme Court in the Extra-Judicial Execution Victim Families Association case (2016) held that every death in an encounter is subject to judicial scrutiny even in AFSPA areas.

Static linkage: Internal security, civil liberties, fundamental rights (Polity).

5. Briefly noted

Suspension of Operations (SoO): A 2008 agreement between the Centre and several Kuki-Zomi insurgent groups. Under SoO, designated groups are confined to camps and refrain from violent activities in exchange for ceasefire terms. The agreement covers groups like the Kuki National Army and Zomi Revolutionary Army. It does not cover valley-based insurgents (UNLF, PLA) who have never entered agreements with the Centre.
Neurotoxin alert (Ludhiana): Eight workers died in Gujarat in April from hydrogen sulphide exposure during illegal sewer cleaning. Hydrogen sulphide is lethal at high concentrations and has a pungent odour. FSSAI separately notified maximum residue limits for pesticides including emamectin benzoate in tea.

Practice MCQs

Check yourself

Consider the following statements about Article 342 of the Constitution: 1. The President specifies Scheduled Tribes by public notification on the advice of the relevant governor. 2. High Courts have the power to direct inclusion of a community in the Scheduled Tribes list. 3. Parliament alone can modify the Scheduled Tribes list once it is notified. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 and 3 only1 and 2 only2 and 3 only1, 2 and 3

Check yourself

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 derives its applicability from:

A declaration by the concerned state or the Central Government under Section 3 of the ActAn order of the Governor of the concerned stateA resolution of Parliament under Article 356A joint notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Defence Ministry

Check yourself

In Manipur's geography, which of the following describes the valley-hills distribution of population and land?

Valley covers 90 per cent of land with 57 per cent of population; hills cover 10 per cent with 43 per cent.Valley covers 10 per cent of land with 57 per cent of population; hills cover 90 per cent with 43 per cent.Valley covers 50 per cent of land with 64 per cent of population; hills cover 50 per cent with 36 per cent.Valley covers 30 per cent of land with 80 per cent of population; hills cover 70 per cent with 20 per cent.

Check yourself

With reference to the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement in Manipur, which of the following is correct?

It covers all insurgent groups in Manipur including the United National Liberation Front.It is a ceasefire arrangement under which designated groups confine themselves to camps.It was signed under the auspices of the Supreme Court of India.It grants official recognition to Kuki-Zo groups as political parties.

Check yourself

The leopard (Panthera pardus) belongs to which of the following conservation categories under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972?

Schedule IISchedule IVSchedule ISchedule III