The Supreme Court on June 20 termed the Manipur ethnic violence, which has left nearly 100 dead, a “purely law and order issue”, while “hoping” that courts will not be asked to deploy the Army or Central security forces.
A Vacation Bench of Justices Surya Kant and M.M. Sundresh refused to list a plea by the Manipur Tribal Forum Delhi (MTFD) for Army protection to the Kuki tribals urgently, in the next day or two. It listed the case on July 3, after summer vacations, saying it was the earliest the case could be heard.
The Bench indicated that its intervention, one way or the other, now may tend to “aggravate” the situation in the State, which has seen clashes since May 3 between the dominant Meitei community and Kuki-Zomi tribals, and create “more problems”.
