Trust, ration in short supply; trucks with stocks for Assam Rifles blocked on highways

“They accuse the force of siding with the Kukis and say we will not allow your trucks to pass through. Much of our ration has rotted in the trucks. The times we have been able to break through these barricades, it has required massive coordination at various levels,” said an Assam Rifles officer.

Sources said this usually involves bringing the Manipur Police, local MLAs, Meitei civil society organisations and the CRPF on the same page, which has not always worked.

“There have been times when the CRPF’s Rapid Action Force (RAF) has used force to break open the human barricades, but five kilometers ahead, a new blockade is found. How much force can we use after all,” an officer said.

Sources said the main highway, NH2, through which civilian trucks take supplies to the Valley, is facing blockade by the Kuki population in Kangpokpi in north Manipur. However, trucks of the Assam Rifles have been allowed to pass through here and move freely until Kanglatumbi, a Kuki-dominated area. The problem starts when the trucks reach Sigmai, a Meitei area. Sources said women from the community have been blocking the roads and not allowing trucks of the force to pass through.

A map of Manipur.

Even if supplies somehow reach Imphal, taking them to south Manipur, which includes the districts of Churachandpur, Tegnopol and Chandel has been difficult as the trucks have been stopped in Bishnupur and Moirang. On the alternate route of Kakching, blockades have been formed just ahead of Pallel.

Sources said attempts to take the supplies through any of these routes have proved futile as the blockades are not permanent and are usually formed within minutes. “The moment residents of a village see the movement of trucks of the Assam Rifles, they begin to bang on electric poles. This is relayed to another village and then another. In 15-20 minutes, there is a gathering of women blocking the road, no matter what route we take,” an officer in Churachandpur said.

Sources said that while the Assam Rifles has stocks of dry ration that can run up to 45 days, perishable items such as vegetables have to be replenished every week. But even dry ration stock is depleting fast as the camps have to sustain additional Army columns rushed to Manipur to control violence.

Exasperated at the delays of the last few days, the force has been using heptors to reach supplies to its camps. “But their carrying capacity is very low and due to incessant rains, most days they can’t fly,” another officer said.

Sources in Assam Rifles and the Central security establishment have denied allegations of the force taking sides in the conflict.

“When Meiteis were being attacked in Churachandpur in the initial days, they were provided shelter inside camps of the Assam Rifles, with the personnel even escorting them to relief camps in Imphal,” a central security establishment officer said.

An officer of the Assam Rifles recalled that while transporting Meiteis stuck in Churachandpur to Imphal, their personnel fired at a Kuki mob trying to prevent their movement. Two women and a man died in the incident, sources said.

According to the state government, poppy cultivation is spread across over 15,000 acres in the hills. Of the 2,518 people arrested over the past five years for drug trafficking, 381 were Meiteis, 1,083 Muslims, 873 Kuki-Chin and 181 others.

Sources in the central security establishment said large-scale poppy cultivation was a reality in the hills of Manipur. “But those engaged in poppy cultivation do not allow personnel of the Assam Rifles to even come near the fields. The force too does not enthusiastically pursue them as destroying poppy cultivation is not their job but of the state police; they are only supposed to provide support. The state has been carrying out destruction of poppy cultivation,” an officer said.

Assam Rifles sources said the force is alert to illegal drug trafficking on the border and has seized drugs worth over Rs 2,900 crore in the past five years in Manipur.

On illegal immigration, the sources said Moreh is an unfenced porous border where there is a Free Movement Regime in place. This, the sources said, has helped illegal immigration of Kuki-Chin tribes from Myanmar who are fleeing an oppressive junta there.

Sources said that last September, 5,500 illegal immigrants were caught in Moreh and 4,300 were pushed back. Biometrics of all have been recorded.

“Until the border is fenced, it is difficult to stop illegal immigration. On this front, the work is on,” an officer said.