The letter, shared online by political commentator R. Lungleng, reveals Delhi’s repeated but ignored reminders to strengthen Manipur’s ADCs and devolve power to tribal regions.
BY PC Bureau
November 26, 2025 — A 22-year-old letter has resurfaced online and thrust Manipur’s unresolved autonomy debate back into the spotlight. Penned in 2003 by then–Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, the letter — largely forgotten until now — has re-emerged amid the state’s prolonged ethnic conflict, triggering renewed demands for Sixth Schedule protections in Manipur’s hill districts.
It has been shared by political commentator R. Lungleng (@rlungleng) on X complete with a scanned copy of the original correspondence. Reactions have been swift and polarized: many hail the letter as “damning proof” of long-ignored commitments, while others dismiss its resurfacing as a tactical distraction from the present violence engulfing the state.
A Forgotten Document Returns to the Frontline
The April 7, 2003 letter, addressed to former Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh, revolves around a long-standing demand: extending Sixth Schedule protections to the tribal-majority hill districts of Chandel, Churachandpur, Sadar Hills, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul. The Sixth Schedule — implemented in parts of Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura — grants tribal regions greater autonomy over land, forests, customary laws, and local governance.
Advani reminded the Manipur government that it had already expressed “no objection” to such an extension in 2001, albeit with certain proposed “local adjustments.” Yet those modifications were never submitted. The letter reveals repeated follow-ups by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2002, all of which went unanswered.
What sharpened Advani’s tone, however, was his deeper critique of Manipur’s Autonomous District Councils (ADCs). He pointed out that the councils had not held elections for an entire decade, rendering them powerless and disconnected from grassroots governance. Despite allocations in the state budget, funds meant for hill development often failed to reach interior villages, he noted — a pattern that continues to be echoed by today’s tribal groups.
“In view of these facts,” Advani wrote, urging personal intervention from Ibobi Singh, the state must expedite its long-pending details on strengthening the ADCs and extending the Sixth Schedule. The letter ended with his signature and the official seal of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office.
In a bombshell revelation from a 2003 letter written by LK Advani, then Deputy Prime Minister of India, the Manipur government reportedly had no objection to the extension of Sixth Schedule status for the Autonomous District Councils in the hill areas. pic.twitter.com/YydFrVkRAe
— R Lungleng (@rlungleng) November 25, 2025
A Viral Flashpoint in a Fractured Present
The rediscovered document arrives at a volatile moment. Manipur has been scarred by intense ethnic clashes between Meiteis in the valley and tribal communities in the hills since May 2023. More than 250 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced in one of the region’s worst crises in decades.
Demands for Sixth Schedule protections are not new. They resurfaced during the 2012 ADC election boycott and again after the 2023 violence. The hills — home to Naga and Kuki tribes — have long accused Imphal of administrative neglect and of marginalizing tribal political aspirations.
The comments below Lungleng’s post mirror this divide.
“This proves Delhi knew everything and still did nothing,” wrote one user.
Another countered: “Ibobi’s government agreed. What stopped implementation? Tribal autonomy is our right.”
The exchange, while small in numbers, captures the long-running distrust that continues to shape Manipur’s political landscape.
Historians say the letter is less a revelation than a reminder. “It shows the chronic bureaucratic inertia and the political unwillingness to devolve power,” says Dr. Lam Khan Piang of Delhi University. “The Sixth Schedule’s absence in Manipur is not accidental — it reflects decades of reluctance to restructure state–tribal relations.”
A Thorny Question for the Present — and the Future
The resurfacing of Advani’s letter raises difficult questions for both the present BJP-led state government and its predecessors. The BJP, which came to power in Manipur in 2017, has faced similar accusations of prioritizing the valley over the hills, most recently during debates on land and forest classifications.
For tribal bodies such as the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM), the recently viral letter is evidence that the Sixth Schedule debate has been allowed to drift for more than two decades.
“It’s not just a historical document,” Lungleng said today. “It’s a roadmap we never followed.”
Whether the renewed attention will translate into meaningful political dialogue — or serve merely as another flashpoint in Manipur’s deeply fractured landscape — remains uncertain. But the letter’s revival is a stark reminder of how easily the past resurfaces in the Northeast, stirring new tremors in an already fragile present.
