Manipur: Protesters plan to ‘push Army back’ ends in violence

Starting Wednesday morning, thousands of protesters – which security officials said numbered over 10,000 and included women – gathered at Phougakchao Ikhai and Kwakta in the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district.

This massive gathering came after a call was issued by a Meitei civil society organisation, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), and its women’s wing to push back Army barricades at Phougakchao Ikhai towards Kuki-Zomi dominated Churachandpur. The stated aim was to enable Meiteis, who had fled from Torbung – at the border of the two districts – to return to their homes.

Reacting to this call and anticipating a further breakdown in the state’s fragile law and order situation, the Manipur government had reinstated full curfew in five districts located in the valley.

Cabinet Minister Sapam Ranjan Singh had also issued an appeal on Tuesday that COCOMI’s plan be reconsidered. As part of his appeal, he had stated that the government “has removed many of the barricades already” and that around 700 people who had been displaced from Torbung and had been taking refuge in various relief camps have been returning and resettling “in the past few days” in houses that had not been damaged.

However, despite these efforts, thousands of people gathered at the area on Wednesday morning and their movement was stopped there by columns of security forces.

The barricading put in place in these areas at the peripheries of the state’s valley is part of the “buffer zone” system being maintained by the security apparatus to prevent the movement of people across these lines and curb violence.

The protestors were briefly stopped at Kwakta around noon by the state forces, but managed to push forward.

In an attempt to disperse the protesters, the state forces used tear gas, but soon found themselves outnumbered. The crowd breached Kwakta barricades around 12.30 pm and proceeded towards Torbung, where they were again stopped by central forces, including RAF and the Army, at Phougakchao Ikhai area.

In Phougakchao, COCOMI representatives held talks with the district administration, including the police. But, after over three hours, the protesters once again tried to breach the barricades put up by the forces, resulting in intense tear gas shelling followed by volley of live rounds in the air.

“Initially when the crowds gathered, there was a lot of back and forth happening with the security forces trying to persuade them to turn back. However, some in the crowd began stone pelting in Kwakta, after which reinforcements with additional RAF forces were brought in. The forces kept persuading them to return, and around 4:15 pm, armed miscreants fired towards the security forces at Phougakchao. The security forces responded with tear gas,” said a security official.

Soon after the flare-up, the crowd retreated from the area. However, the situation remains tense in Phougakchao Ikhai and surrounding areas as armed miscreants could be seen putting up barricades, using logs and stones, around 50 metres away from the iron barricades put up by the central forces.