In each other’s crosshairs in Manipur, a shopkeeper and a teacher — with guns

A makeshift bunker made of sandbags and a tin roof at a Meitei village to the east of the Dimapur-Churachandpur highway in Manipur. (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

This is their story:

‘I spend nights in the bunker… it needs courage’

In a Meitei village, east of the Dimapur-Churachandpur highway, and surrounded by hills on three sides, the 25-year-old recalls how gunshots rang out from the hills through the night. In a makeshift bunker, made of sandbags and a tin roof, he spent the night cradling a single-barrel gun while personnel of the Manipur Police and the Village Defence Force (VDF) returned fire.

“I can’t counter such heavy firing with this single barrel. It does not even fire properly. My job is to hold the fort, watch movements, and inform the VDF and police who then return fire,” he says.

A graduate from a college in Bishnupur district, he spends more than 12 hours every day in the bunker south of the village. On any given day, there are five more volunteers with him. “There are fewer people at night because only those with courage can stay the night,” he says.

Merely 350 m away, towards the hills, is a Kuki bunker.

The 25-year-old used to run a hardware store in Churachandpur. His partners were Kuki. His shop has been spared, mainly because the property, he says, belongs to a Kuki landowner.

On May 3, when violence erupted, he had been sounded by his Kuki friends not to go to Churachandpur because trouble was expected during a tribal rally against the Manipur High Court decision on granting ST status to the Meitei.

“We are used to such rallies but I did not think it would flare up so much,” he says.

A graduate from a college in Bishnupur district, he spends more than 12 hours every day in the bunker south of the village. (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

He recalls seeing a tyre burning near the Kuki War Memorial. As crowds began to turn violent, he headed home. Around 5 pm, he learnt there had been arson in Meitei villages.

“I never expected this to happen. I felt very bad when even our temple was desecrated. Though there was always some tension between the communities, such a thing never happened in the past,” he says.

That night, fearing trouble, many Meitei left the village. Over the next seven days, the 25-year-old, along with other young men, would return in the morning to assess the situation and relay the information. On one occasion, the men found that some vacant houses had been burnt down, he says.

Following this, three VDF personnel were chosen for the protection of the village. But on May 13, a neighbouring Meitei relief camp was attacked and there was gunfire.

“We then went to the police and asked for assault rifles. But they did not oblige. A police contingent, along with the Assam Rifles, came to the village and assured protection. Still, sporadic incidents of arson and firing continued.

We then decided that we needed to protect our village ourselves and so we set up a committee,” he says.

That’s how the first bunker in the village came up on the eastern side.

The first heavy firing was on May 26. “The firing from the other side was so heavy that the VDF men started running away. We then dragged them back,” he says.

The 25-year-old has spent days in the bunker, but still gets startled by gunfire. “My friends often mock me for this,” he says.

He does not believe the situation is going to ease up anytime soon, and pines for the life he led. “If everything becomes normal, I would like to go back to Churachandpur and resume work at my shop,” he says.

A few kilometres away is a Meitei village that is right on the edge of the plains leading to the Kuki-dominated hills.

The village, with open fields before it, has a ring of 14 sandbag bunkers. Beyond the bunkers are a line of halogen bulbs strung up on bamboo poles to watch for movements.

Standing guard in one of these bunkers is a 26-year-old science graduate working as a bank executive. Until recently, he had never fired or laid his hands on a gun. He and a few other young men are now being trained by an ex-Army officer who has set up a functional system with duty rosters and identity cards for every village defender.

“Each bunker is guarded by 15 men who share three guns among themselves. Most guns are those owned by villagers but we have also got some .303 rifles. The idea is to keep a vigil and fire when required. We have more men than guns… they can make a lot of noise and scare the enemy even if they can’t fire,” the retired officer says.

The 26-year-old says he is always scared. “But what to do, it is a job that has to be done. My mother too is on the roads checking vehicles and unwanted movement at night,” he says.
The officer constantly trains his binoculars towards the hills. Asked if he has been watching for movements, he says, “That will happen at night. Right now, I am looking for my cows that have strayed to the Kuki side.”

‘My school friends are Meitei… no trust now’

The contraption — a pipe peeping out a bent tin sheet, with a rope leading to a trench behind — makes an appearance as one moves from a Meitei village close to the boundary between Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts towards a Kuki village in the foothills. This is a locally assembled “pumpi gun” that is triggered by pulling the rope, potent enough to blow up a vehicle.

Around 100 metres ahead are roadblocks — a bamboo mesh and a line of brassieres strung together.

To the left of the bamboo mesh, the fields have been dug up with JCBs to make military-style trenches and bunkers where gunmen keep watch day and night for any movement from the Meitei side.

To the left of the bamboo mesh, the fields have been dug up with JCBs to make military-style trenches and bunkers where gunmen keep watch day and night for any movement from the Meitei side. The fields in front are rigged with over a dozen pumpi gun booby traps that encircle the village.

“We have to be well prepared to defend our village. I was born here. We have so many memories attached. Our land, livelihood is here. How can we let someone burn it? The bras signify woman power. It is a local belief,” says a 23-year-old with a gun in one of the bunkers.

A locally assembled ‘pumpi gun’, which is triggered by pulling the rope and is potent enough to blow up a vehicle, is seen at a Kuki village close to Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts in Manipur (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

A graduate from a college in Shillong, he was until recently teaching science, the Meitei language and local dialects to school students in Churachandpur, a largely Kuki district. His father is a farmer, and his younger brother is studying in Shillong.

On May 3, the day trouble began, barely a few kilometres from the village, the 23-year-old was home.

“I had not joined the protest rally but heard that someone had set fire to the Kuki War Memorial gate that afternoon. Then we heard firing in a village. We were all scared. As news of arson from nearby villages came, women and children left the village, while young men stayed back. That night, we had just four single-barrel guns. We sat in the field all night behind mud bunds,” he says.

In the days that followed, more men joined the “village defence” from other Kuki villages, and six bunkers were built. The village now has 20 bunkers.

“In the first week, we hardly slept. No one would go home and food would be delivered in the bunker. Now we have set up a roster and people have duties by rotation,” he says.

Since all attacks happen at night or in the early hours, those on night duty have to be vigilant. “It is not easy because it is pitch dark. But we leave dogs in the fields. They bark whenever they sense any movement,” he says.

With the rain in June, it has been difficult because some bunkers are getting flooded and rain water leaks from the roof, he says.

For additional security, the locals have dug up the road and mounted a ‘pumpi gun’ to ensure no one can get close to the Kuki village, which is located near the Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts in Manipur. (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

On May 5, mobs attempted to raid his village, but the village defence, he says, repelled it. On May 11, around 7.30 am, the village received fire again which went on for two hours.

“That day, the other side was about 900 m close to the village. We had around 15 guns. We fired continuously and also unleashed the pumpi guns. They then retreated,” he says.

According to an Army officer, the raiders tried to enter a neighbouring village but a pumpi gun fired by the defenders not only destroyed a vehicle but also killed a policeman.

Following this, there were fewer attempts to raid the village, said security sources, although it did receive some firing on May 18 and mortar fire on May 26-27.

“When there is heavy firing, we do get some sophisticated weapons. The police in Churachandpur also come and help us.”

Fields in the Kuki village, located near Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts of Manipur, have been dug up with JCBs to make military-style trenches and bunkers for the gunmen to keep watch day and night for any movement from the Meitei side. (Express Photo: Deeptiman Tiwary)

Does the firing scare him? “I don’t feel anything. The idea is to stay on because help will come. I just have to hold on for some time. It’s a job I have to do. Also, we are traditional hunters. Even a 10-year-old boy here knows how to handle a gun. We have been brought up like that,” he says.

Before May 3, the 23-year-old would spend time with his Meitei friends at a nearby lake.

“Most of my friends from school are Meitei. Until recently, I used to be in touch with them. But since May 3, we haven’t spoken. In this situation, where neighbours have burnt down homes of each other, friends can’t be trusted,” he says.

He wishes the situation would ease soon. “I have been preparing for the exams to join the armed forces. The exams were held a few days ago, but I could not appear because of the situation,” he says.