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Journalism of Courage
National Highway-02, often dubbed as Manipur’s lifeline, passes through the everyday chaos of the town market in Imphal West’s Kanglatongbi. The flow of vehicles here is slowed by an Imphal West police barricade, next to which is a check-post manned by personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Looking at the vehicles driving past, a policeman at the check-post says his job is to look for anyone who “looks like him (a Meitei)”, and stop them for identification.
Meiteis are not allowed to travel beyond this point on the highway in Manipur, where the divide between the state’s Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities continues to run as deep as ever 27 months into the conflict, which broke out in the state in May 2023.
“Forget civilians, even police personnel from the Meitei community are not supposed to go beyond this,” he says.
A state divided
Over two years since the start of ethnic tensions in the state, the absence of “free movement” of people, including along the state’s highways, remains one of the most significant fallouts of the divide in the state.
Immediately after Imphal West, which is located in the state’s Meitei-majority valley, NH-02 enters the Kuki-Zo-majority Kangpokpi district. At check-points on either end of the “buffer zone” (areas manned by security personnel between settlements of both communities, where the movement of people is not allowed), security personnel ensure that Meiteis and Kukis don’t cross over from their respective settlements.
NH-02 — which connects the capital Imphal to Dimapur in Nagaland, and further to Assam — is one of the major routes through which goods enter Manipur. While trucks, and petrol and LPG tankers breeze through these posts and the highway uninterrupted, every passing car is subject to inspection.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Manipur — his first since violence broke out in the state — the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had issued a statement that the Kuki-Zo Council had “decided” to “open NH-02 for the free movement of commuters and essential goods”. But the Kuki-Zo Council had refuted this claim, saying it was impossible for them to “re-open” the highway when they hadn’t “closed” it in the first place and that essential goods had been passing through the highway without impediment.
On Monday, the Kuki-Zo Council issued an “urgent clarification to the Meitei public” on the MHA’s announcement, “warning” them that the “buffer zone is to be respected at all costs”. It said, “Any violation will only lead to serious consequences and further deterioration of peace and security.”
Beyond the check-post in Imphal West’s Kanglatongbi is a stretch of around half a kilometre of homes belonging to Gorkha families. At the end of this is an arched gate that welcomes visitors to the Kuki-Zo-majority Kangpokpi district.
A ‘change’ of guard
Just below this arch is the main check-post. Though manned by the Manipur Police and CRPF personnel like the previous one in Imphal West, there is a critical difference: the police here are from the Kuki-Zo community.
A CRPF jawan stationed there says, “Our job here is straightforward. We ensure that no Kukis or Meiteis cross over from this point. We assist the police in case of trouble, but they are responsible for identifying people from the communities.”
A policeman who stopped The Indian Express’s vehicle for inspection at the check-point said they check the commuters’ Aadhaar cards for identification, “but we can make out by appearance too”.
He adds, “There is 24/7 checking here. We don’t check goods trucks and tankers since they already have the go-ahead from the headquarters and their entry points into the state. We simply check for the movement of people and liquor.”
Following the May 2023 conflict, “volunteer” check-points manned by the Kuki-Zo residents had cropped up for inspection of people and vehicles entering the district. While these check-points were disbanded earlier this year, following the imposition of the President’s Rule in February this year, the “buffer zones” remain.
One such “volunteer” check-post was located in front of Len Chongloi’s iron fabrication workshop along the highway in Lower Khengjang, the first Kuki village in Kangpokpi. Though the “volunteer” check-post was disbanded in February, Chongloi has not crossed the one at Kangpokpi gate, located five minutes from his house, since May 2023. For supplies he needs for his workshop from Imphal, he said he sends his workers, including Bengalis, accompanied by a Nepali or Naga friend of his.
“Even if we go there, the police stop us. There is no checking beyond the buffer zones by local groups, but we are not safe beyond those points. At the same time, no one can guarantee the safety of a Meitei crossing over to this side if they are identified by locals,” he says.
Another crucial stretch of NH-02 — a more heavily guarded “buffer zone” — passes through the Meitei-majority Bishnupur district to the Kuki-Zo-majority Churachandpur.
Crossing over from one district to the other entails crossing eight check-points. At each, while their IDs are checked, commuters are asked about the purpose of their travel, besides entering their personal details in a register.
Another crucial stretch of NH-02 — a more heavily guarded “buffer zone” — passes through the Meitei-majority Bishnupur district to the Kuki-Zo-majority Churachandpur.
The first check-point here while travelling from Bishnupur towards Churachandpur is at Phougakchou Ikhai, a Meitei-majority village. The day The Indian Express crossed this check-post, it was being manned by Meitei police personnel.
A personnel at the check-post says, “We maintain a log of the nearly 300 cars that pass by daily. While Meiteis are not allowed beyond this point, others like Nagas, Nepalis and Pangals (Muslims) can go through. Most of them travel through here for business or government office work.”
A few metres away lies a check-post manned by the Army’s Garhwal Rifles. Here too, the same checks are made and the same details entered in registers. Next to this check-post is a roadside shop run by Abeima Devi, a resident of Phougakchou Ikhai, who sells eatables ranging from biscuits to pineapple juice.
As she watches the vehicles passing by, she says, “I have not gone beyond the village (towards Churachandpur) for over two years now. It’s not even a question of wanting to. We are not allowed to go that way. This whole area is full of faujis (Army personnel).”
Potential triggers and buffer zones
Beyond the Garhwal Rifles’s check-point lies another one manned by the Army. An official there said the aim of having multiple check-posts was to prevent “any potential trigger” for violence caused by movement across the “buffer zone”.
“This stretch is a conflict zone, which has seen a lot of violence earlier. Our aim here is to maintain the status quo,” he says.
The second Army check-post is followed by two more — one manned by the CRPF, the next by the Border Security Force (BSF). The sixth check-post is secured by the Manipur Police, but its personnel are from the Kuki-Zo community. “This is Torbung. The Kuki-Zo people are not allowed beyond this area towards Bishnupur.”
After yet another CRPF check-post, lies the last one that is manned by the Army. Like in Kangpokpi, the “volunteer” check points beyond this point too were manned by Kuki-Zo youths and women. Locals say these “volunteer” check-points were removed after the imposition of the President’s Rule in the state.
