By P.K.Balachandran/Sunday Observer
Colombo, November 24: There is a worrying rise in armed militancy in the North-Eastern Indian State of Manipur. The minority Christian Kuki tribe is taking up arms to resist the domination of the majority Hindu Meiteis, who are said to be protected by the State and Central governments, both run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The two ethnic groups have been locked in a deadly conflict since May 2023, that has claimed more than 200 people and displaced thousands.
Violence began again last week after the authorities recovered bodies of six women and children, who reportedly belonged to the majority Meitei community. Last Saturday, a Meitei mob torched houses and offices of at least a dozen local lawmakers, mostly belonging to the state’s ruling BJP.
The Meiteis alleged that the women and children were kidnapped and murdered by armed groups of the minority Kuki group. While the police have not confirmed this, the Kukis say that their armed men only protect their villages from Meitei attacks, which they allege, take place with the backing of the BJP government dominated by the majority Hindu Meitei. The Christian Kukis have been demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Biren Singh, who is a Hindu Meitei.
Police have arrested 23 people and the authorities have imposed an indefinite curfew and suspended internet services in Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley and Bishnupur district. At least 20 people – both Kukis and Meities – have died in the recent flare-ups.
Tensions began on November 7, after members of an armed group allegedly raped a woman, who reportedly belonged to the Kuki community, and set her on fire in Jiribam district. Four days later, a police station and a relief camp housing Meitei refugees in the area were attacked. The majority Meietis blamed Kuki groups for the assault. Police on the same day shot dead 10 armed men in what they said was a “shoot-out” with Kuki militants. But Kuki organisations claimed that the individuals were “village volunteers” – or armed civilians protecting their villages.
Following the attack on the relief camp, six persons – a grandmother, her two daughters and three grandchildren – went missing. Meitei groups alleged that they were abducted by armed Kuki men.
The Central government which had been indifferent to the flare ups in Manipur for reasons nobody could fathom, at long last, sent Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Manipur to control the violence. There was a discussion on re-imposing the dreaded Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), in ‘hyper-sensitive’ areas, in addition to six police station areas, including Jiribam, in which the act was already in operation. AFSPA gives sweeping powers to the military to operate anywhere that is declared a ‘disturbed area’. No military personnel in an AFSPA area can be prosecuted without the Central Government’s nod
Shah said that the Centre would dispatch an additional 50 companies of the Central police forces to join the 20 already there.
Background
Clashes between the Kukis and Meiteis erupted first in May last year. They were sparked by Kuki protests against demands from Meiteis to be given official “tribal status”, which would make them eligible for special affirmative action on par with those available to the Kukis. Kukis felt that the Meiteis were already advanced and so, deserved no affirmative action. Since then, the state has witnessed months of violence and unrest, with only sporadic moments of calm.
Today, Manipur is divided into two camps, with Meiteis inhabiting the Imphal Valley and the Kukis living in the surrounding hill areas. Borders and buffer zones guarded by security forces separate the two regions. The violence has resulted in the burning of at least 1,700 buildings (including homes and religious sites). More than 35,000 people were displaced in 2023, with many living in the 315 relief camps.
The state government’s response has largely echoed the strategies India has previously employed during unrest in the North East and Jammu and Kashmir. This has included issuing military curfews, suspending internet services and deploying thousands of troops and paramilitary forces with shoot-on-site orders in “extreme cases.”
In India’s Northeast, the different ethnic communities have been weaponized to serve the interests of a powerful few, says human rights worker Binalakshmi Nepram. Any moves toward peacebuilding in the medium or the long-term will have to reckon with the weaponization of ethnic fault lines, she adds.
Even 70 odd years after India’s independence in 1947, these fault lines have remained and getting stronger by the year because of competitive politics based on ethnic strength and also weaponization. No effort has been made to foster understanding between different communities regarding one another’s history, culture and traditions and the need to coexist peacefully, says Nepram.
Manipur, which means “Land of Jewels,” consists of a valley surrounded by mountain ranges. The state is home to 39 ethnic communities following different faiths, including Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, as well as Indigenous religious traditions such as Sanamahi.
Opposition to the manner of Manipur kingdom’s merger with independent India in 1949 laid the groundwork for separatist movements. It remains at the heart of the dispute between New Delhi and Manipur.
To quell this resistance, the Indian government imposed the draconian AFSPA for the first time in 1958. The act has been criticized by rights groups and has contributed to a deep trust deficit between the State and its people on the one hand, and the Central government, on the other. The central government argues that AFSPA is necessary for maintaining order in areas with a history of insurgency and alleged foreign support for separatist movements.
Manipur has at least four Meitei armed groups, several Naga groups and nearly 30 Kuki armed groups. Those with political influence have been gun-running and also narco- and human-trafficking. Armed groups frequently back candidates in state elections. In 2022, two Kuki insurgent groups issued statements in support of the BJP. In 2019 images on social media reportedly showed a letter written by armed groups to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah asking for a party ticket to be given to a candidate of their choice. The armed group later disputed the claim. Civil society organizations in Manipur said that the 2022 elections were overshadowed by “open intimidation” by militant groups.
The most recent violence began in May 2023 after the Manipur High Court asked the State government to consider Scheduled Tribe status for the Meitei community. This status would ensure protection within the Indian Constitution and allow the Meitei expanded access to benefits, including reserved jobs in government. But soon after the court announcement, a rally was held by the All-Tribal Students Union of Manipur led by the Kukis. Reports surfaced about the burning down of the Anglo-Kuki War Memorial Gate. In response the Kukis burned down several Meitei villages in Churachanpur, which in turn prompted retaliation by the Meiteis, who torched several localities inhabited by the Kuki in the Imphal valley.
The other issue angering the Kukis is the ban on poppy cultivation. Efforts to survey reserved forests to reduce poppy cultivation, had resulted in evictions from Kuki villages.
The Meiteis complained that while the law prevents them from buying lands in the Kuki inhabited hill regions, Kukis and other tribal communities can buy lands in the Imphal valley where the Meitis live.
Additionally, the influx of Zo tribals from Myanmar following the 2021 military coup there led to disputes between the Kukis and the Indian government. The government wanted the influx to be stopped but the Kukis and the Zo refugees are kindred tribes.
Binalakshmi Nepram, the Manipuri peace activist, said that the need of the hour is “citizen-centric dialogues to address deep distrust and historical hurt that have polarized indigenous communities across the region. Indigenous peace-making initiatives, truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies could be a way to start to soothe the fractured hearts and minds of communities who have lived through violence for decades.”
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