Manipur: Army, paramilitary forces deployed as protest against Scheduled Tribe demand turns violent 

The Army and paramilitary forces were deployed in Manipur on Wednesday after violence was reported from several parts of the state following a tribal agitation.

Thousands of tribals participated in a march called by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur across all the ten hill districts of the state to oppose the demand of the majority Meitei community to be included in the Scheduled Tribe category.

The march was organised after the Manipur High Court, in an order on April 19, asked the Bharatiya Janata Party government to consider petitions for including the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list “expeditiously, preferably within a period of four weeks”.

The police told PTI that during the march in Torbung area of Churachandpur district, an armed mob allegedly attacked those belonging to the Meitei community. This led to retaliatory attacks and the situation turned volatile across the state.