Representatives of the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) submitted an affidavit to the Commission of Inquiry (Manipur Violence) 2023 at the Commission's state office in Imphal on Friday.
The Commission of Inquiry is headed by former chief justice of Gauhati High Court Ajay Lamba. The state office of the commission is located at Hotel Imphal.
STDCM president Yumnam Dhiraj submitted the affidavit along with other senior office bearers of STDCM. The legal consultants of STDCM were also present during the submission.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines, Yumnam Dhiraj asserted that the Meitei/Meetei's demand for ST inclusion was not the spark which led to the eruption of the May 3 violence.
“We have submitted the affidavit to clarify the matter. The affidavit strongly and logically objects the allegation that the demand for ST inclusion triggered the crisis,” he said.
He highlighted that the affidavit had been framed with the aid of legal consultants and maintained that its sole objective was to lay down valid arguments to nullify the ST narrative of the conflict.
“Amit Shah and other national media outlets have outrageously asserted that the Meitei/Meetei ST demand led to the entire conflict,” he added.
He stated that such a narrative in the public domain put the rightful demand of the Meitei community in bad limelight. He further pointed out that the affidavit also made assertions to look into wrongful inclusion of certain communities into the ST list. He stressed the need to rectify this mistake and properly relook into the matter.
