Even as the violent conflict that erupted on May 3 in the bordering areas of Manipur’s Churachandpur district and Bishnupur district has passed half a year, there is no any indication of ending it soon.
Though the firings from the surrounding mountains on the villages in the peripheries of Imphal valley decrease, intermittent firings on Sanasabi village in Imphal East district continue.
Meanwhile, the killing of Chingtham Anandkumar, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) and Officer-in-Charge of Moreh in the Indo-Myanmar border by the Kuki militants on October 31 has exposed another dimension of the violent conflict between the Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis that has completed 186 days.
According to reports, the fatal attack is the handiwork of a newly set up group christened as People’s Protection Force (PPF). The shooting of the police officer was executed under the supervision of a commander of a Kuki militant outfit currently under the Suspension of Operation (SoO), a tripartite ceasefire agreement with the State government and the Centre.
The reports also said that three days ahead of the sniper ambush that killed SDPO Anand, functionaries of PPF and an apex Kuki civil body of Tengnoupal district engaged a heated argument with the deceased police officer on October 29 over why the police personnel were clearing the Eastern Shine School ground that started on October 26 to construct a helipad.
The report added that the recruits of the PPF are being sheltered and given arms training at Haolenphai and Sahei, the two Kuki villages lying along the Indo-Myanmar international border on the Indian side at Moreh. It also alleged that sophisticated weapons like snipers, assault rifles, rocket propellers, and explosives were recently purchased from Thailand and China.
It may be mentioned that out of 44 individuals detained by scuirty on November 1 during the search operations a total of 32 turned out to be Myanmarese citizens.
Following the cold-blooded murder of SDPO Anandkumar by Kuki militants in Moreh and subsequent ambush on a reinforcement team in which three commandos were left injured, a combined force of Special Commando, CDO Moreh, Moreh Police, 5th India Reserve Battalion (IRB), Border Security Force (BSF) and Assam Riffles (AR) carried out search operations at three villages in Moreh on November 2, during which the SoO camps of United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) and Kuki National Army (KNA) were reportedly found empty and abandoned.
The combined force destroyed a Kuki militant shelter, seized arms and vehicles during search operations carried out at Toulal, Senjang and Laikul Village within Moreh Sub-Division, Tengnoupal district of Manipur.
Reports said that the Kuki militants involved in the killing of SDPO Anand have been suspected to be taking shelter in between the three villages. But they had reportedly fled towards the Myanmar border after opening fire on seeing the combined forces approaching towards their shelter.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Kuki civilians including women and children gathered near the Assam Rifles camp to seek shelter on November 2, following the search operations by a combined team of State and Central forces in Moreh sub-division. However, it is said that the Assam Rifles refused to give them shelter in the camp.
Though the gunfights between the Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis become significantly lesser as the Meiteis don’t fight back to the latest attacks at Sanasabi village in Imphal East district, the position of the Kuki-Zomi tribes seems hardened for the demand of a separate administration following the assasination of Moreh SDPO Anandkumar.
Unfortunately, there is no any concrete and proactive step from both the State and Central Governments to resolve the violent conflict between the Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis.
Rather the government appears to leave the violent conflict to the involving communities to resolve themselves.
Even after the killing of SDPO Anandkumar by the Kuki militants and consequnt developments, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on November 1 appealed to the warring Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur to have a heart-to-heart conversation between them to end the violent conflict that has claimed the lives of over 180 people till now.
Addressing an election rally in Siaha, the southern-most tip of Mizoram bordering Myanmar, the Defence Minister said violence is never a solution to any problem and the warring communities must sit together and talk to each other to improve the situation in the troubled Northeastern State of Manipur.
“The Northeast has been peaceful in the last nine years. However, we have witnessed violence in Manipur and it is painful for us. Violence is no solution to any problem. What we need is heart-to-heart conversation. I appeal to both the communities to sit together and end trust deficit,” Rajnath Singh said.
Explaining about the violent conflict in Manipur Rajnath Singh said, “I want to categorically say that it (violence) did not take place because of any political party. It happened because of certain situations.”
Rajnath also accused the opposition Congress of trying to exploit the situation in ethnic-strife hit Manipur for political benefits. “When the situation in Manipur was deteriorating, Congress tried its best to do politics over it. There is a need to keep the entire country, including Mizoram and Northeast, away from the negative politics of Congress,” he said.
Though statements made by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh about the violent conflict in Manipur were in an election rally in the neighbouring State of Mizoram, which plays a key-role in the violent conflict, reflect the position of the Central government.
Earlier, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah also encouraged the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) to initiate dialogues with responsible Kuki leaders and groups to facilitate problem-solving and peace-building actions while a 13-member delegation of the COCOMI held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his official residence in New Delhi on August 25, 2023.
Since then, no policy or measure to end the violence is made public to build the confidence of the people. All the National Highways leading to the state capital are still blocked by the Kuki militants. Even the security guarded oil tankers and goods-laden trucks cannot pass the highways without attacks.
While the Kuki-Zomi militants stick to their guns for an exclusive territory with Separate Administration from Manipur and the Meiteis are determined to protect the territorial integrity snd unity of the multi-ethnic State of Manipur, it will not be easy for the warring parties to talk heart to heart at this stage of the violent conflict without a sincere and transperant position of the Central Government and its direct intervention.
Senior Editor: Imphal Review of Arts and Politics
