Violence Weary Manipur Needs Peace and a Sustainable Solution

Though President’s rule has been imposed in violence-hit Manipur and members of both communities–Meitie and Kuki-Zomi– have reportedly started surrendering arms, the state is nowhere near finding a solution to the two-year-old ethnic clashes.

More than 6,000 weapons were looted from the state police after violence erupted in the state on December 3, 2023. Meanwhile, members of the armed Meitei group, Arambai Tangol, met the state Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and told him that they would surrender their arms only when they got an assurance that no action would be taken against its members following handing over the looted and illegal weapons to the authorities.

It is interesting to note that Korounganba Khuman is under investigation by the NIA in connection with looting of arms and ammunition from Manipur Rifled complex and in other cases.

The clashes since 2003 have taken a huge toll. Reports suggest it has killed over 250, injured thousands, and internally displaced nearly 50,000 people. Families have been separated and children left orphaned. The state administration and the Centre made no effective efforts to control the violence when the state was suffering. 

The Meitei and the Kuki-Zomi communities continued to battle it out on the streets. The state government led by BJP’s Nongthombam Biren Singh lost the majority as the party was divided on communal lines over the ethnic clashes. 

Singh was forced to resign in the face of imminent fall of his government when Congress proposed to bring in a no-confidence motion. The then chief minister also faced allegations of his partisan role in handling the violence.

An audio clipping started doing the rounds where he was allegedly heard instigating violence against the Kukis.  The Supreme Court is seized of the matter brought to its notice by non-government organisation the Kuki Organisation for Human Rights Trust (KOHRT).

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, has informed the Court the video has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to establish its authenticity. 

The NGO had handed over the video to the Court. It blames the chief minister for being “instrumental in inciting, organising and thereafter centrally orchestrating” violence against “Kuki-dominated areas in Manipur”.

Meanwhile, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, claimed in his submission that the Hyderabad-based non-government Truth Labs Forensic Services analysis in January had shown that there is “93% chances” that the voice in the video is that of the then chief minister Biren Singh.

However, the Solicitor General dismissed the report saying that Truth Labs is a private organisation. Yet, Biren Singh’s visit to the National Capital and subsequent resignation within days of the Supreme Court saying that it would wait for the CFSL analysis report sent the tongues wagging.

Opposition parties took it as an opportunity to reiterate their claims that the state government had been taking sides in the conflict. They also claimed that the Centre had been supporting Biren Singh in this alleged partisanship.

Biren Singh’s stepping down could not have come, politically, at a better time as his removal at the height of violence could have emboldened the perpetrators of violence.

Manipur has a long history of violence. The latest one erupted when the Guwahati High Court directed the state government to consider granting Meiteis Scheduled Tribes status.

Though Meiteis – mostly Hindus – constitute a little over half the state’s population, they have just about one-tenth of the state’s land. Once included in the ST list, they would be able to buy land in the hills. These areas are inhabited by tribals, mainly the Kukis and the Nagas, who usually practice Christianity.

According to the last Census, conducted in 2011, Manipur had a population of close to 28.6 lakhs, where Hindus and Christians comprised a little over 41% each. Muslims constituted a little over 8%.  A section in the state claims that the Kukis numbers have swelled in recent times following infiltration by the members of the community from adjoining Myanmar. The chiefs of Kuki tribes have rebutted the allegations against them of promoting the infiltration.

They accuse their rivals of seeking means to grab land in the hills, blaming them of concocting stories of illegal entrants to incite people against the Kukis. There has also been a history of skirmishes between the Kukis and Nagas, which erupted soon after India's independence, and has been resurfacing intermittently over the ownership of lands and the right to Local people also blame the porous Myanmar borders for the influx of people and smuggling of contrabands and arms into the state in the hills.

Many in the North-East claim that, unfortunately, instead of addressing the main issues and finding a lasting solution, successive governments have neglected them. They accuse the powers that have been at the helm in the state and at the Centre of either having turned a blind eye to the problems, or trying to subjugate the Manipuries.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in early December last year arrested three people from Mizoram in a trans-border arms and ammunition smuggling case.

It is a matter of concern that rockets and drones were used in the conflict this time. It is perhaps for the first time that airborne assaults were carried out by rival groups in an ethnic strife. The situation clearly calls for an immediate plan and action to bring back peace in the state. However, it has to be done with the intention of healing, not subjugation of the state.