4 months on, how Meitei-Kuki conflict has kept Manipur on the boil

Among the most recent developments in the situation are the photographs of two Meitei students hinting at their killing. The two photographs surfaced nearly three months after the two went missing.

The first shows Phijam Hemjit, 20, and Hijam Linthoingambi, 17, sitting next to each other in a green outdoor area with two men carrying arms standing behind them in the background. The second photo shows them slumped on the ground next to each other, with Hemjit’s head missing.

Flames and smoke billows out after an old warehouse owned by a retired bureaucrat set ablaze amid violence in Manipur, at Palace Compound in Imphal East district. (PTI/File)

This comes just days after Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced the restoration of mobile internet services that were suspended on May 3.

The photographs have once again sparked tensions over the ground situation in the northeastern state with the government promising “swift and decisive” action against those involved in the killing.

Here’s a rundown on the ethnic violence that has kept Manipur in the crisis zone for the last four months and more.

Violence breaks out, but why?

On May 3, the Kuki community protested against Meitei’s long-standing demand that the latter be included in the list of the state’s Scheduled Tribes (ST), which received a boost following an order of the Manipur High Court. One of the reasons cited for the opposition is the dominance of the Meiteis, both in population and in political representation – Meitei and Meitei Pangals constitute roughly 64.6% of the state’s population.

For other recognised tribes, an ST status to Meitei would hence mean losing job opportunities, land rights and other perks to a much-advanced community.

The clashes on May 3 brought Manipur to a boil, resulting in a curfew being imposed and a mobile internet ban across the state for five days. The Indian Army, Assam Rifles, Central Armed Police Forces and Rapid Action Forces were soon deployed to control the situation. The Army and Assam Rifles also carried out flag marches in the areas hit by the violence.

The next two months were dotted with reports of killings, arson, and police actions as the tensions between the two communities escalated. The internet ban too continued to be extended for five days at a time, citing the law-and-order situation in the state.

Amit Shah strives to resolve the deadlock

After almost a month of violence, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Manipur on May 30 for a four-day trip to review the security situation in the state and bring the warring Kukis and Meiteis together.

Following a meeting with key political leaders and officials in Imphal, Shah met with various civil society groups from the Meitei community in the state capital and then travelled to Churachandpur to meet representatives of the Kuki community. He also visited relief camps housing both the groups and assured all support in ensuring their early and safe return home. Shah promised that justice would be done and all possible help would be provided to them, said sources.

Shocking video of women being paraded naked emerges

A video showing two women from the Kuki-Zomi community being paraded naked by a mob of men and being sexually assaulted began doing the rounds on July 19, bringing to light an incident which took place in Manipur more than two months ago, when the violence first started.

The video provoked sharp reactions from across the political spectrum and prompted Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani to speak with the state’s Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

One of the victims told The Indian Express that they had been “left to the mob by the police”. In the complaint, they had said that they had fled to a forest for shelter after their village in Kangpokpi district, was attacked by a mob and that they were later rescued by Thoubal police and were being taken to the police station, but were stopped on the way by a mob and seized from police custody around two kilometres away from the police station.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh (C), party MLA from Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh (L) and leaders of like-minded Opposition parties during a press conference over violence in Manipur, in New Delhi, Saturday, June 17, 2023. (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)

Opposition delegation visits Manipur

In late July, a  21-member multi-party delegation of MPs of the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) visited Manipur for two days to take stock of the ground situation in the state. The visit aimed at mounting pressure on the government seeking a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament ahead of the much-awaited discussion in the Lok Sabha on a no-confidence motion against the Centre.

The delegation hit out at PM Modi, in a memorandum submitted to the Manipur Governor, saying that his “silence” over the continuing violence in the state showed his “brazen indifference”. They also submitted a memorandum, asking her to restore peace and normalcy in the state, and apprise the Centre of the “complete breakdown of law and order in Manipur for the last 89 days”.

No-confidence motion in Parliament

The Parliament witnessed a tumultuous monsoon session with the Opposition parties, under the banner of INDIA, bringing a no-confidence motion against PM Modi, and pressing for an elaborate discussion on Manipur violence and a statement from him. The government said they were open to discussion, but said that it would be led by Amit Shah and not PM Modi, as the Opposition had demanded. 

The no-trust motion was defeated in the Lok Sabha following a walkout by the Opposition parties during PM Modi’s speech on the third day of the debate. PM Modi, during his over two-hour-long speech, besides leading a tirade against the Opposition parties, vowed to bring peace to the northeastern state at the earliest.

Manipur Assembly sees ruckus over violence

Meanwhile, the Assembly session in Manipur on August 29 – a first since the violence broke –  lasted all of 11 minutes. There was no discussion on the clashes which have gripped the state for the last four months, but at the end of the Session, in an unprecedented move, a resolution calling for peace “through dialogue and Constitutional means” was declared as passed by the House.

The one-day Session had been hurriedly convened through a summons on August 21 to meet a Constitutional requirement.

FIRs registered against Editors Guild

The Manipur Police booked the Editors Guild of India president and three members of its team in early September over a report that criticised the role of the state administration and alleged bias by officials and a section of the media in the ethnic conflict.

One of the FIRs, registered at the Imphal police station on Sunday night, was based on the complaint of one Ngangom Sarat Singh, who claimed to be a social worker. It alleged that the report was “false, fabricated” and “sponsored by Kuki militants and their supporters.”

The other FIR, based on a complaint by one Sorokhaibam Sangita, was registered the same night at Imphal’s Porompat police station.

The report alleged that the leadership of the state “became partisan during the conflict” and “failed to do its duty as a democratic government which should have represented the entire state”.

“The Guild had received several representations from civil society as well as the Indian Army raising concerns that the media in Manipur was playing a partisan role in the ongoing ethnic conflict between the majority Meitei community and the Kuki-Chin minority. The Guild had sent a three-member team to Manipur to examine the media’s reportage in the state as well as the effects of internet shut down,” it said.

More than 4,700 houses were torched during arson in Manipur.

Efforts to storm police stations in Manipur

Last Thursday, protests in Manipur valley, pressing for the release of five people who had been arrested for allegedly possessing firearms and wearing camouflage uniforms, turned violent after a large number of women protesters surrounded various police stations.

The situation got particularly heated at Singjamei police station in Imphal West where the officer-in-charge’s residence was also vandalised. Police and security personnel responded with the use of teargas shells, leaving three civilians injured.

Later, on Friday, a week after their arrest, the Manipur High Court granted them bail.

During the hearing, the accused rationalised their possession of military-grade/deadly weapons by saying that “unknown volunteers” had handed them over earlier and left, and they ended up keeping them.

The five men had been arrested on September 16 from Konga in Imphal East and booked under IPC Section 121 A (conspiracy to commit offences against the state) – a non-bailable offence – as well as Section 16 of the UAPA, which pertains to punishment for a terrorist act. Section 6(1)(a) of the Official Secrets Act, which pertains to using an official uniform to deceive, was also invoked.

Mobile internet service restored

Nearly five months after mobile internet services were snapped in Manipur, the facility was restored on Saturday afternoon, hours after CM Biren Singh announced the same. “As a precautionary step to prevent unwanted incidents, the state government had imposed a ban on the internet. But from today, the internet will be restored,” Biren said.

This comes after the Manipur government issued a show cause notice to Airtel over mobile internet services being available to unauthorised mobile numbers in some areas of Churachandpur and Bishnupur on September 20. On Saturday, Singh announced that two officers of Airtel have been suspended in connection with this incident. While mobile internet services – which is how most people access the internet – have been banned continuously for the last four-and-a-half months, broadband services were conditionally restored on July 25.