Violence Escalates in Manipur: Who is Responsible?

The phrase might remind one of the “Mera Gujarat jal raha hai (My Gujarat is burning)” line from PM Narendra Modi’s biopic. While the backdrop of the recent violence in Manipur is vastly different with fault lines running deep, the BJP, again, is in power in another “burning state”, despite the much-hyped ‘double engine” government in place.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh was seen appealing to people for peace and harmony on Thursday when the violence escalated beyond control. Manipur is under curfew now, with a total curb on the internet and normal life at a standstill. Security forces are deployed in high numbers and the Army has been brought in to take control of the situation, with reports of gunfights still coming in.

In the latest incident, BJP’s Kuki MLA, Vunzagin Valte, was attacked by a mob in Imphal on Thursday and is said to be in critical condition. This comes in the wake of four Kuki BJP MLAs quitting various posts last month, unhappy with the Biren Singh government.

A Timeline of Events

The events that led to violence in the state are a manifestation of the reopening of age-old faultlines and lacunae in policy formulation. The hill tribes in the state got agitated by a recent High Court direction pertaining to the inclusion of the Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. The Meiteis have been demanding ST status for some time.

Moreover, over the past few months, the Manipur state government was surveying the reserved forests or protected forests and was proposing evictions in the villages. The forest areas are mostly in the hills, inhabited mostly by the tribals.

On April 27, the day before CM Biren Singh’s visit to Churachandpur, the open gym which Singh was scheduled to inaugurate was set ablaze. Subsequently, Section 144 was imposed in the affected areas and internet services were suspended for five days from April 28. Reportedly, even after the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) agreed to withdraw the protests, police forces were not withdrawn from the district.

On May 3, a call for a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was given by the All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM), protesting against the demand for the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST category. The solidarity march saw massive participation (of nearly 60,000 people as per some reports) and was followed by a total shutdown. It also marked the ignition of violence with a few incidents in the Torbung area of Churachandpur district. The situation worsened with arson in several villages, snatching of arms by civilian groups, and the announcement of a ‘shoot at sight’ order on May 4.

Flared Faultlines

Meitei is an ethnic community of Manipur and comprises 53% of the total population. Meiteis are mostly Hindus, while the tribals are overwhelmingly Christians. The Meiteis are mostly concentrated in the valley region, including Imphal, the capital city. In the hills, the tribals have the majority. The district of Churanchandpur is dominated by the Kuki tribe. It is quite well known that most of the Meiteis are affluent in comparison to the tribals of the state.

The tribal groups believe that Meiteis have a demographic as well as a political advantage as the community yields 40 out of the total 60 MLAs in the state. Meiteis are believed to be more advanced in many aspects than tribal communities. The latter fear a loss of opportunities if the ST status is granted to the Meiteis. The ATSUM leaders point out that since the language of the Meitei people is included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, many of them have benefits associated with the SC, OBC, or EWS status. The demand, therefore, is being seen as “a tacit strategy of the dominant valley dwellers to make inroads into the hills areas of the state”.

Some recent activities – including the evictions from the forests in the hills – of the N Biren Singh government have been seen as responsible for widening the historical faultlines between the tribals and the Meiteis.

Pradip Phangjoubam, a veteran journalist from Manipur and currently the editor of Imphal Review of Arts and Politics, speaking to NewsClick over the phone, suggested that the evictions in the hills were probably the key point leading to discord. “The government was saying that poppy cultivation is widespread in the hills. Under the guise of stopping poppy cultivation, the government carried out large evictions of the Kukis in the Churachandpur district. Moreover, the government also propelled the narrative that there are a large number of drug peddlers in the hills,” said Phangjoubam. He believes, however, that the situation will be under control within a short period of time.

A research associate (RA) from Manipur, at present working at Griffith University, Queensland, told NewsClick under the condition of anonymity that Meiteis have dominated the administration of Manipur. He said, “Out of 60 total MLAs in the Manipur Assembly, 40 are Meiteis. You can judge the dominance of the community over politics and administration of Manipur.”

Talking about the violence, he cited sources back home saying that on May 4, civilians, mainly Meiteis, stormed the Manipur Police Training College at Pangei and took out weapons from there. “So, the civilians have weapons in their hands and people saw the result. They opened fire at the tribals,” he claimed.

“Was it so easy to ransack a high-security premise without tee hidden approval of the police or the administration?” he questioned.

He claimed he also heard reports that some churches were demolished in Imphal, that too in a tight security zone – near the DGP’s residence and the state Assembly area. NewsClick could not independently verify this.

NewsClick also spoke to Singsit *(name changed) from the Churanchandpur district. He could be contacted only late Thursday night (there is complete shutdown of mobile internet in the state) and narrated a harrowing incident. Singsit said, “Yesterday, (May 3), when the news of the violence spread at the solidarity March, both Meiteis and tribals including Kukis got agitated. From our sources, we came to know that on the night of May 3, some 20 Kuki villages were burnt in the Churanchandpur district itself. More horrific clashes broke out that night, people told us. People belonging to the Meitiei community accompanied Manipur police and commandoes to set ablaze the villages.”

Singsit further alleged that the ransacking of the Kangpokpi police station was done by the Kukis where weapons were snatched by some civilians. Singsit’s claims, however, could not be verified.

“So, everyone has weapons now, both the Meiteis and the Kukis. You can imagine the gravity of the situation in Manipur. All due to the faulty measures undertaken by the government,” he said.

It is worth mentioning here that the Centre, the Manipur government and three Kuki militant outfits signed a tripartite agreement and an SoO (Suspension of Operation) in 2008. The three Kuki militant groups were the Kuki National Army (KNA), Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) and the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA). The Biren Singh government withdrew from the tripartite agreement and the SoO on March 10 this year following protests in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal districts against the government’s crackdown on the poppy cultivators in the name of protecting the forest lands.

However, several political observers blame the BJP-led state government for initiating the crisis by withdrawing from the SoO agreement of 2008 in March, which ceased armed operations against Kuki militants. After that, its eviction drive led to tension and insecurity among the communities living there.

The fear of Kukis and other hill tribes is that their land and forest rights may be taken over. The latest trigger is the recent eviction of villagers from the reserve forest area in Churachandpur district.

Incidentally, such has been the pressure from the ground that four Kuki BJP MLAs resigned from various posts last month and even went to Delhi to meet the party's top brass, demanding the ouster of Biren Singh from the government.

Meanwhile, a lot has been brewing in some areas of Manipur, including the volatile Churachandpur district, explains Sangmuan Hangsing. In an  article , he said that on February 15, the Deputy Commissioner of Churachandpur ordered a verification drive in order to identify “illegal immigrants” in several villages of Churachandpur and Mualnuam sub-divisions. The verification drive was scheduled from February 27 to March 17 where the village chiefs were ordered to ensure the presence of each and every villager to collect their biometrics. The tribal groups protested against the recent drives and called for a peaceful rally on March 10. The administration imposed Section 144 on the day of the rally, claiming it was done to prevent violence.

‘First Such Violence Since 2001’

Kamala Devi (name changed), a resident of Imphal and member of the Left-affiliated All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), who witnessed the violence, also blamed the escalation of tension between the communities in March when the BJP government withdrew from the 2008 peace deal with the Kuki National Army (KNA) and Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA).

"Meitei people only live in the valley, which occupies only 20% of the state. They are becoming a minority because of immigrants from Myanmar coming to the state, which is why the community wanted Scheduled Tribe status," she told NewsClick. As per existing law, the Meiteies are not allowed to settle in the hill areas of the state.

 "The All Manipur Student Union, Kuki students union and other organisations called for a rally against the Meitei’s demand. The rally was initially peaceful. After the rally came down to the valley, they were told not to enter the area, and a conflict took place," she said, mentioning the 'Tribal Solidarity March'.

“We are hearing that Meitei villages were burned and people died. But we do not have any official figures yet," she said, adding that “Internet has been shut down and a curfew has been imposed. We don’t know what is happening.”

Ikou village, a Meitei area in East Imphal, has been burnt but the death toll has not been announced yet, she claimed. Devi said she also saw a burnt ambulance when she was in Imphal West on Thursday morning. On inquiry from locals, she said she got to know that the car was burnt around 3 a.m and three people who were in the ambulance were killed; there was no patient in the ambulance.

“Houses and buildings belonging to Kuki people are also being burnt in Imphal. Advanced Hospital, whose proprietor is a Kuki, was also burnt. The hospital is around 2 km from my house.  I have not seen such violence since the government’s ceasefire move in 2001," she said. 

 “I live with my family and have two sons here. I am afraid of this tense situation. There is smoke from the fire in the city, and we can smell it.”

 “There is a mindset among many young Meiteis that they should kill Kukis. But I ask them, how can you tell if a person is Meitei or Kuki just by looking at them? They are not understanding this,” Devi said.

(With inputs from Aritry Das)