The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East, has summoned two Kuki leaders as the court found that prima facie grounds exist for defamation cases against them for the comments they made against Meitei community.
The court has issued summons to Kuki Women’s Forum convenor Mary Grace Zou and Kuki People’s Alliance co-founder Wilson L Hangshing to appear on July 24.
They made the comment amid ongoing conflict and violence in Manipur in two separate interviews with Karan Thapar for The Wire on May 26 and June 14.
After the interviews were posted on the YouTube Channel of The Wire and the portal published reports based on the same, Manipuri activists Lourembam Cha Somorendro filed a complaint against Mary Grace Zou and Wilson L Hangshing under section 200 of CrPC.
The case was filed against them on the complaint under section 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups), 200 (false statement), 505 (1) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
“The court has found that prima facie materials exist for the commission of offences under 153A, 200, 505 (1) sections”, said the court, adding that however, there is no materials for offence under T Act as the allegations are mainly related to comments made in the interview to The Wire.
It may be highlighted that in the complaint, L Cha Somorendro said that he came across the interview of both the accused taken by The Wire on June 18 and 19, which were downloaded in his phone. In that interview, Grace Zou stated that the Meitei community had pre-planned the killing of Kuki and ethnic cleansing of Kukis in the valley area of Manipur and the ethnic violence started in the valley area on May 3.
"The very statement of Mary Grace Zou is totally false and fabricated which shall amount to communal enmity and hatred between the Meitei and Kuki communities," stated the complaint.
"The very violence in the state which started on May 3 has been particularly done by Kuki militants by using heavy and sophisticated weapons in their hands,” the complaint mentioned.
Further, the complainant pointed to Wilson L Hangshing's comment that the Manipur government used the reserved forest and protected forest to prosecute the Kuki community which are totally false, fabricated and allegation has been made to promote enmity between the different communities.
