Can’t bulldoze peace, no free movement in Manipur without political solution, say Kuki-Zo leaders

On Thursday, the Kuki Zo Council, the umbrella outfit of Kuki groups, also announced its continued opposition to the ‘free movement’ initiative.

“We oppose the free movement, as allowing it would be tantamount to accepting peace arrangements without a political settlement. The free movement is a blunt and abrupt policy, an insidious scheme to impose peace while ignoring the real concerns of the people and the escalating crisis… The government is trying to bulldoze ahead without any guarantee of justice to the thousands of people who have suffered,” Janghaolun Haokip, a leader of the Kuki Inpi Manipur, told The Indian Express.

The decision to enforce “free movement” in Manipur from March 8 was taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a review meeting on March 2, where he directed security forces to take “strict action against anyone attempting to create obstructions”. The decision was aimed to enable Meities to pass through the hill areas of the state and the Kuki-Zo people to come to the Imphal Valley, which has not been possible for either community since the start of the conflict nearly two years ago.

In accordance with Shah’s decision, two Manipur State Transport buses with paramilitary escort and without any passengers were flagged off from Imphal on March 8. The bus passing through the Kuki-Zo majority district of Kangpokpi was, however, stopped by protesters. The clashes resulted in the death of one and injuries to protesters as well as security personnel, which had prompted the shutdown by the Kuki Zo Council.

Kuki-Zo organisations accuse the Centre of “bulldozing” in trying to “push the bus into Kangpokpi”.

The Kuki Zo leaders also expressed unhappiness that at the Tuesday meeting held by their representatives with a team of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), led by its advisor on Northeast affairs A K Mishra, their demand for a “separate administrative structure” for the Kuki-Zo majority areas of Manipur was not up for discussion.

“Everyone welcomes peace, and we want it in our area, but running buses is not peace. Firstly, the MHA needs to find out the cause of the conflict and find a resolution to it. Once a solution, be it a separate Union Territory for us or anything else, is arrived at, then these other measures can follow. However, the MHA team is asking us to allow free movement but is not talking about a solution nor negotiating for one. No one from our community will go to a Meitei place, so free movement means nothing. We cannot meet each other without a solution,” John Hmar, a representative of the Pherzawl and Jiribam based Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee, said.

“In my opinion, they want to show the world that peace initiation has begun and normalcy is already there, and tell the Opposition in Parliament that free movement has been enforced,” Thangtinlen Haokip, a representative of the Committee on Tribal Unity, said. Even if the bus flagged off on March 8 had crossed Kangpokpi and gone to Senapati, “that wouldn’t mean normalcy is prevailing… We have always been saying that forced normalcy will not work,” Haokip said.