The violent conflict that erupted on May 3 last year with Kuki-Zomi militants attacking Meiteis in Manipur’s Churachandpur district and its bordering areas with Bishnupur district has now passed eight full calander months – 250 days on January 7, 2024.
The continuing violent conflict has directly affected 10 districts – Imphal East, Imphal West, Kangpokpi, Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Jiribam, Pherzawl, Tengnoupal, Kakching and Thoubal districts out of 16 districts. The other remaining six districts are also indirectly affected in many ways.
The violent conflict has claimed 200 lives. 61,387 persons are pushed away from their homes and they are now taking shelter at refugee camps designated as releif camps and houses of their relatives.
Manipur government on October 24 has disbursed Rs 1,000 financial assistance per head to all displaced persons residing at the relief camps of the state through the Deputy Commissioners of the districts concerned. A total of Rs 6.138 crore has been released to DCs which will be utilised for providing the assistance to 61,387 persons currently residing in relief camps.
In the violent conflict, 32 persons are reported still missing; 1,108 persons were wounded. 5, 172 houses were burned down and destroyed. 386 religous structures including 254 churches and 132 temples were destroyed, according the police briefing to the media as on September 14.
Since the State both the Government of India and Government of Manipur according to Artcile 12 of Indian Cosntitution has failed to protect the lives and properties of the unarmed civilians, people in the peripheries of the valley surrounded by the mountains snatched arms and ammunitions from the state security forces to arm themselves and defend from the attacks of Kuki-Zomi militants and protect their villages. Both armed and unarmed Kuki-Zomi people looted arms and ammunitions from the gunshop in Churachandpur town and also anatched away arms and ammunitions from the state security forces.
The IGP (Ops) I K Muivah on September 14, 2023 informed the media that 5668 arms and 6,64,002 ammunitions were snatched away from the armouries of the state security forces including Manipur Police Training College, Police Stations and India Reserved Battalions (IRBs).
However, during the violent conflict, 1329 arms; 15,500 ammunitions; and 400 bombs have been recovered as on September 14, 2023 without adding the arms and ammunition recovered from the search operations conducted by combined security forces after September 14, 2023 till January 6, 2024. Exact latest official figure of arms and ammunition recovered so far cannot be available.
Notably, about 80,000 personnel of Indian Army and Central Paramilitary Forces are said to have been deployed in India’s Northeast State of Manipur having an esitmated population of 3.64 millions since the eruption of violent conflict on May 3 last year.
Though violent conflict broke out on May 3, the faultline became disticnt in early 2021 when some Kuki groups backed by Nehlun faction of Kuki National Front (KNF-N) claimed over Mount Koubru as exclusive ‘ancestral land’ and ‘tribal land’ of the Kukis. The KNF-N in a statement on April 7, 2021 had warned the Government of Manipur not to conduct any field verification and necessary measurements for the sacred site of Lord Koubru and Lai Pukhri; and to abstain from ‘forceful occupation of tribal lands’ at Koubru Hill range.
Since then, the tension had been brewing between the Kuki-Zomis and Meiteis in Kuki-Zomi dominated districts of Kangpokpi and Churachandpur. Exchange of name-calling, labelling and hate speech between individuals belonging to Kuki-Zomis and Meiteis and even between civil bodies belonging to the two communities through social media and press releases was fueling the already brewing tension.
The brewing tension started turning into actions in the form of protest and counter protest in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts and the State capital, Imphal since 2023 February due to the Manipur Government’s efforts to remove encroachers from reserved forest areas besides War on Drugs 2.0 of the Bharatiya Janata Party – BJP’s Nongthombam Biren led government.
The protest rally organised on March 10, 2023 by Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO)-GHQ and the newly formed Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) in Kuki dominated districts against the State Government’s eviction drive against encroachers in Reserved Forests and Protected Forests Areas and Government plans to protect the State from illegal poppy plantation, illegal influx of immigrants from Mynamar, Reserve Forests land protection and safeguard of wildlife sanctuaries, War on Drugs etc. turned out violent in Kangpokpi district.
Consequently, the Manipur Cabinet on March 10, 2023 decided to withdraw the State Government from Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreements with two Kuki militant groups, namely the Kuki National Army (KNA) and the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) whose leaders are said to be hailed from outside Manipur.
Manipur Government on April 5, 2023 declared Thangkhongam Haokip aka David as the “Most Wanted” criminal in the state for being the Commander-in-Chief of the Kuki Independent Army (KIA)/Kuki Independent Organisation (KIO).
In response to what the Manipur government declared, the KIA on April 8, 2023 raided the SoO camp at Henglep Sub-Division in Churachandpur district and looted a large cache of arms and ammunitions from the camp at around 7:30 pm. Notably the SoO camp was housing cadres from USRA, KNF (Z) and UTLA.
To fulfill Kuki-Zomi interest, the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) called a 12-hour Shutdown in “tribal areas” over the job reservation in the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) demanding to follow the Office Memorandum of the Government of India’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for a reservation quantum of State’s 34 per cent for ST since 2005 instead of central reservation norms in the central institutes. The Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) and the Zomi Student Federation (ZSF) also supported the shutdown.
In protest against the land and forests survey carried out by the State Government, the ITLF, in a press release, on April 27, 2023 announced non-cooperation of all Government related programmes and called for a total shutdown in Churachandpur District on April 28 from 8 am to 4 pm.
Then, in the evening at about 8:30 PM on April 27, 2023 suspected volunteers of ITLF and its supporters in large numbers came and vandalised the Open Gym which was set up by Churachandpur Assembly Constituency MLA L M Khaute, former Manipur DGP at PT Sports Complex Churachandur which was to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Manipur Nongthombam Biren on April 28.
Consequently, Manipur Chief Minister cencelled his plans to visit Churachandpur and in order to prevent any disturbances of peace and public order in the jurisdiction of Churachandpur and Pherzawl Districts in Manipur mobile internet services have been suspended for the next 5 (five) days with immediate effect from April 28, 2023.
However, on April 28 night violence erupted as the supporters of ITLF set ablaze a Forest Range Office in Tuibong destroying public properties worth hundreds of thousands of rupees and records and official documents.
On April 29, 2023 Kuki miscreants invaded a house belonging to a Meitei at Thingkangphai in Churachandpur and destroyed a temple of Lord Pakhangba and also burnt seven colourd flag representing seven clans of Meitei.
On April 30, 2023, Bhupender Yadav, the Union Minister of Labour & Employment, Environment, Forest & Climate Change visiting Manipur declared that “Protection of Reserve Forest and Protected Forest is a state subject and that Manipur Government is carrying out its constitutional duty.” The Union Minister’s statement came as a soothing balm for Manipur Government while the Kuki militants under SoO, Paolienlal Haokip and his cohort had to find a new strategy.
In order to curtail the waves of violence Manipur Government deployed extra police personnel to Churachandpur to maintain law and order. The arsonists were arrested by the police.
However, on behalf of the arrested arsonists, Churachandpur district’s Saikot Assembly Constituency MLA Paolienlal Haokip took up the role of negotiating with the Government of India. He succeeded in his mission and eventually, the arsonists were released and he started undermining Manipur Government’s authority. During a victory celebration of the release in Saikot he proclaimed, “The Government of India understood the problem of the Kukis even if the Manipur Government does not understand it”.
Meanwhile, the Tribal Solidarity March organised by the ATSUM on May 3 in the districts of Manipur dominated by tribal people in protest against the Manipur High Court’s single bench directive turned out violent in Churachandpur district and Kangpokpi district.
Many percieve and understand that the violent conflict between the Kukis and Meiteis was sparked off due to Manipur High Court’s single bench judgement on March 27, 2023, which was made in public only on April 19, 2023 directing the Government of Manipur to submit recommendations for inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in the Scheduled Tribes list, and to consider the case within a period of four weeks.
Though the rally passed off peacefully in the Naga-dominated districts, more than 60,000 people are estimated to have attended the rally in Churachandpur town. Videos of the rally in Churachandpur where many gun totting people also took part went on viral in social media. The situation took an ugly turn after a non-tribal driver was assaulted.
Later in the day, a 1,000-strong mob attacked the non-tribal villages of Torbung and Kangvai in Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts, respectively. Similar incidents of arson were reported from the border town of Moreh in Tengnoupal district the same night.
The state government immediately suspended mobile internet services “to maintain peace and communal harmony”. Broadband services were also shut from May 5, as images of widespread violence led to communal tension.
Then, retaliatory attacks against Kuki-Zomis and their properties across Imphal valley happened. Mobs targeted the 7th Manipur Rifles complex at Khabeisoi in Imphal East district and fled with hundreds of weapons, calling it a necessity “to defend their homes from invaders as security forces had failed to protect lives and properties of the people”.
Remarkably, the Supreme Court on August 1, 2023 said that there has been an absolute breakdown of the law and order machinery in Manipur. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that there has been an absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state for the past two months.
“This gives us the impression that from the beginning of May till the end of July there was no law in the State,” the Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
Furthermore, the State both the Government of India and Government of Manipur cannot stop the violence besides failing to enforce law and order in Kuki-Zomi dominated districts to bring normalcy in Manipur as at least 11 Manipur Police commandos and a BSF jawan have been wounded in three separate Kuki-Zomi militants attack at Moreh since December 30 till January 2, 2024.
Senior Editor: Imphal Review of Arts and Politics
1 thought on “Eight Months After an Ethnic Inferno Started in Manipur, State Fails to Stop the Violence to Bring Back Normalcy”
I would like to know a suggestion or a solution from the Government of India in connection with the Government of Manipur that, how these displaced people will be made to return to their own previous residences to settle peacefully like they lived and stayed as usual, thinking that the ongoing war of disputes stop instantly by an agreement between the two sides.
Will the displaced persons be able to live in their previous residential status or will they agree and satisfy even if the concerned Government gives them their needs in the form of money and how much amount for the rich people and how much for the poor/s.
It’s just simply some of few words felt instantly in my mind and so a comment from my side.
With Regards.
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