The Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) has on its part denied any mala fide intent in including a controversial question on the Manipur violence in a paper for selecting agricultural development officer, and identified the Principal Controller of Examination as the right official who should look into allegations of "one-sided portrayal" by a top Meitei civil society organisation.
"We don't set the question papers. They are given to different setters. Then they are sent to moderators. Question setters and moderators are not our people, but all from different universities and reputed colleges," APSC Chairman Debaraj Upadhaya told news agency PTI on Monday.
"We cannot see the questions as these are locked by the moderators," he said, adding the APSC is a neutral body. "There is no politics involved in it."
The APSC chairman's clarification has now shifted the focus to those in some colleges and universities who set the question papers and who are not part of the APSC.
A meeting is likely to be held in the APSC to discuss the matter on Tuesday, sources in Guwahati told NDTV on Monday. The APSC is also expected to inform the question setters about the huge controversy, the sources said.
One of the questions in the paper "selectively maligns the Meitei community by portraying Meitei groups as perpetrators of rights abuses, while ignoring the grave atrocities, killings, and displacements suffered by Meiteis at the hands of Chin-Kuki militants and their CSOs [civil society organisations]," the Meitei Heritage Society said in a letter to the APSC chairman.
"Why were these militant groups and CSOs not listed as options in the question, despite being named by the country's top investigative agencies?" the Meitei Heritage Society said, and enclosed a list of cases handled by the country's top anti-terror body National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Several Chin-Kuki militants have been arrested for heinous crimes, and kidnapping and killing of Meitei civilians including women and children; some arrests were made by the Assam Police, and trials are ongoing in Assam, the Meitei Heritage Society said in the letter to the APSC chairman.
It said the reality - as documented in multiple public records - is that the violence in Manipur has tragically claimed lives across both Meitei and Chin-Kuki communities, displacing over 60,000 individuals.
"To single out Meitei groups in an examination question - while ignoring documented atrocities committed by armed Chin-Kuki militants - reflects bias and creates a misleading narrative for aspirants preparing for public service," the Meitei Heritage Society said.
It asked the APSC to issue a clarification on the matter and to declare the question "null and void, ensuring it is not used for evaluation purposes."
The APSC has no grounds to clarify as it did not set the questions; however, since the paper for all practical purposes was for an APSC examination, it is expected to get in touch with the question setters and moderators in colleges and universities, sources said.
Mr Upadhaya, the APSC Chairman, said it is a neutral body and has no view on any community.
"We do not have any mala fide intention, everything is bona fide. We don't have any view on any community because we are a neutral body. There is no politics involved in it. I cannot comment on the particular question as I have not seen it. The principal controller of examination will be able to talk about it," he said.
Ethnic clashes began in May 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kukis including Any Kuki Tribes (AKT), who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation. Over 260 have died in the violence and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced.
