Behind Manipur flashpoint, layers of long-simmering ethnic, cultural faultlines

Earlier this month, Manipur was caught in a vortex of violence, with tribal groups, largely led by leaders hailing from the Kuki community, fiercely opposing the possibility, triggered by a judicial order, of granting Meiteis the Scheduled Tribes (ST) status.

The violence, which broke out on May 3 following a march taken out by the All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur, has so far left at least 73 dead and 231 injured. Thousands of displaced people were forced to take shelter in temporary camps as scores of houses were plundered and set ablaze.

Behind the violence are factors related to unsettled disputes over land, power and resources, which the tribal communities accuse the Meiteis of cornering. On the other hand, the Meitei community, which makes up about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population, feels that the illegal influx from the neighbouring Myanmar country threatens the very identity of the state.

While the current strife is projected as a direct clash between the hill-based tribals and the valley-dwelling non-tribals, in reality, most parts of Manipur inhabited by Naga tribes have remained largely peaceful amid this spiral of violence. Many Naga bodies have issued statements condemning the violence, an aspect of the conflict that has not gained enough attention.

The Naga forums such as the Rongmei Naga Council, Mao Union and Maran Union have condemned the violence, saying the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), which recently led protests against the Manipur government’s drive against alleged illegal encroachments in the tribal-dominated hills, does not represent all indigenous communities.

That Nagas have distanced themselves from acts of violence is not surprising if one takes into account the region’s recent history. The animosity between Kukis and Nagas, which predates India’s independence, snowballed into a violent showdown in the 1990s, with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN – IM) claiming the Kuki-inhabited areas of Manipur as part of its “Greater Nagaland” demand.

So, just like a large section of the Meitei community, Nagas also refuse to recognise Kukis as indigenous to Manipur. Tension has especially been simmering ever since thousands of the Chin-Kuki people from Myanmar, who are ethnically related to the Kuki-Zomi tribes, started entering Manipur and Mizoram since the 2021 coup through which the Army took control of that country. While Mizoram welcomed these shelter-seekers, the Manipur government said it would go by the Centre’s directives to seal borders and turn them away.

According to a paper titled “Ethnic Conflict in India – A case study of the Nagas and Kukis in Manipur”, authored by Nehginpao Kipgen, the conflict between the two communities claimed over 1,000 lives and displaced thousands more between 1992 and 1997 as armed insurgents entered the picture.

Last year, the Manipur Assembly passed resolutions seeking the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) after a number of tribal groups, barring Kuki-led outfits, raised the pitch against the alleged influx of “non-Indians” in the state. The issue, once again, saw Meiteis and Nagas on the same page.

On the other hand, Mizos share ethnic and cultural affinities with Kuki-Zomi tribes.

On Wednesday, 10 Manipur MLAs belonging to the Kuki community held a meeting with various civil society organisations in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, which has been sheltering over 6,000 violence-affected people, primarily Kukis, from Manipur in various relief camps. At the meeting, a decision was taken to press for a separate administration for the community, while also taking Nagas on board.

Last week, a group of 10 Kuki MLAs demanded a separate administration, stating that the Manipur dispensation “failed miserably to protect” the Kuki-Zomi-Chin people. “Our people can no longer exist under Manipur as the hatred against our tribal communities reached such a height that MLAs, ministers, pastors, police and civil officers, laymen, women and even children were not spared. Not to mention the destruction of places of worship, homes and properties. To live amidst the Meiteis again is as good as a death for our people,” they said in a statement.

The sentiment that Kukis have been “wronged” are shared by many others. For instance, Thongkholai Haokip, who teaches at the JNU’s Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, wrote in the May 13 edition of the Economic and Political Weekly, that there was a “systemic build-up leading to this violence in the past few months”. “During the preparation for these riots, there was a selective demonisation through inflammatory speeches in order to dehumanise the Kukis,” he wrote.

The Centre is walking a tightrope to tackle the situation by meeting representatives of various sides, reflected by Shah’s meetings with Meiteis and Kukis as well as the Mizoram civil society groups.

While Kukis’ demand for separate statehood is an old one, with one of the community’s forums making a representation in this regard in 1960 to then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the renewed focus on it has come at a time when the tribal outfits in Tripura are pressing for a “constitutional solution” for protection of their identity and culture, with the Naga peace talks being stuck in a limbo.