Former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has raised the alarm over what he terms a “deliberate distortion” in the official records of a foundational legal order governing tribal administration in Manipur’s hill areas. In a letter to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Wednesday, Singh urged immediate intervention to investigate a potentially unauthorized alteration in the Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas Committee) Order, 1972, which could have far-reaching implications for land rights, ethnic settlements, and governance in the state. At the heart of the controversy is a subtle but powerful shift in wording: the original Gazette of India version uses the phrase “the appointment of succession of Chiefs or Headman”, while the version followed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly reads “the appointment or succession of Chief or Headman.” Singh argues that this change is not merely a grammatical error but a structural manipulation of law that alters the scope of administrative powers in tribal regions.
Singh said that replacing “of” with “or” — a change that might appear insignificant at first glance — drastically modifies the intent of the law. “The phrase in the Gazette strictly regulates the succession of traditional chiefs or headmen. But the altered version opens the door for fresh appointments of new chiefs, creating opportunities for unauthorized and non-traditional village establishments,” he wrote.He warned that this change has led to the unchecked proliferation of new villages, some of which lack any historic or tribal legitimacy, thereby worsening existing tensions over land, ethnicity, and governance.In his appeal, the former CM requested the Governor to initiate an independent inquiry to uncover when and by whom this alteration was made. He also demanded a comprehensive audit of all villages declared and new chiefs appointed since the Assembly adopted the altered version of the order.
“This linguistic distortion may be facilitating legal and administrative grey areas that directly contribute to regional unrest,” Singh stated, referencing the ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities, which has already claimed more than 260 lives and displaced nearly 50,000 people over the past year.Singh’s concerns are compounded by the longstanding non-implementation of the Manipur Hill Areas (Acquisition of Chiefs’ Rights) Act, 1967. Though passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly and assented to by the President of India, the Act — which aimed to abolish the hereditary chieftainship system — has never been brought into effect.
