As Manipur Completes A Year Of Gore, Here’s An Eleven-Point Prescription For Government To Bring Back Normalcy

Friday (3 May) will mark the first anniversary of the start of ethnic violence in Manipur that has left over 230 people dead and displaced thousands of families. 

Riots, clashes and gunfights between the warring Meiteis and Kukis have caused immense suffering to lakhs of people and driven the state to the brink of anarchy. 

The ethnic strife has rejuvenated dormant insurgency in the state — Meitei militant groups are once again active and Kuki outfits, which had committed themselves to a ‘Suspension of Operations’ (SoO) agreement with the government, are suspected to be involved in attacks on Meiteis. 

Added to this volatile mix is the radical Meitei group Arambai Tenggol which possesses a huge trove of arms — mostly looted from state police armouries — and enforces its writ on not only the common people in the Imphal Valley, but also the state administration and politicians. 

People of Manipur have learnt to live with the crackle of gunfire and consequent loss of lives, restrictions on movement and basic freedoms, extortions by militants and criminals, skyrocketing prices and occasional crippling shortages of all commodities, and an uncertain future. 

The union government, which has soft-pedalled the issue of Manipur for one whole year, must act decisively and with a firm hand now to put an end to the violence, restore law and order, get the state machinery to work, and then broker peace between the Meiteis and Kukis. 

Before delving into what the union government should do, a brief recap of what happened before and on May 3 would be in order. 

The run-up to the May 3 outbreak of hostilities

The Manipur government launched a crackdown on poppy cultivation in the middle of 2022 in the Kuki-dominated hills in Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal districts of the state. 

The cultivators were all Kukis, most of them suspected to be illegal immigrants from Myanmar. Kuki drug lords, often fronting for Kuki militant and radical groups, controlled the manufacture and distribution of opium and heroin to the rest of the country. 

The crackdown on opium cultivation hit the Kuki militant groups and drug traffickers very hard. 

This crackdown coincided with eviction of illegal settlers from forest lands. The evicted included Meiteis as well, but it was the Kukis who were affected the most. Once again, it is widely believed that most of these encroachers on forest lands were illegal immigrants from Myanmar. 

In late March last year, the Manipur High Court asked the state government to act on a long-pending petition demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for Meiteis. 

The Meiteis, who form about 60 per cent of the total population of Manipur but are confined to just ten per cent of the state’s total geographical area — the Imphal Valley — have been demanding ST status for a long time. That status would enable them to own property in the hill areas of the state and also provide them with a level playing field in getting government jobs. 

The Kukis, whose population have grown exponentially in recent decades due to a large illegal influx from Myanmar, have been vehemently opposed to the Meiteis’ quest for ST status. 

After the Manipur HC order, the Kukis rose in protest. Resentment had been brewing amongst the Kukis against the state government’s crackdown on poppy cultivation and eviction of encroachers on forests which the Kukis had interpreted — albeit wrongly — as anti-Kuki moves by the Meitei-dominated state government. The high court order was the trigger for violence. 

May 3 violence and its aftermath

Kukis started protesting the High Court order under the banner of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF). On 3 May, the ITLF organised a huge rally and its functionaries delivered fiery speeches against the N Biren Singh government in the state and against Meiteis. 

It was after the rally that targeted attacks on Meiteis started. Attacks on Meitei houses in Churachandpur, which is dominated by Kukis, started late afternoon and soon spread to Moreh, a prosperous town on the India-Myanmar border which has undergone a major demographic change to become a Kuki-majority area.  

Meitei-owned houses, shops and business establishments were looted and then torched and hundreds of Meiteis had to seek refuge in camps of state police and central forces. Many Meiteis were also butchered.

News of attacks on Meiteis by Kukis spread like wildfire in Imphal Valley and triggered retaliatory attacks on Kukis in the Valley from the evening of 3 May. 

For the next few days, large arson, killings and counter-killings dominated the news cycle. More than three lakh people were displaced and took refuge in relief camps. 

By the end of May, the hills were cleansed of Meiteis while Kukis left the Valley and took refuge in the hills and even neighbouring Mizoram. Kukis and Mizos, incidentally, belong to the same ethnic group. 

De facto boundaries were drawn between Kuki and Meitei areas and transgressions led to brutal killings. To keep the two warring sides apart, central forces created ‘buffer zones’ between the Kuki and Meitei zones and started manning those buffer zones in the foothills of Imphal Valley. 

But the killings and other horrific crimes continued. Meiteis — incensed over attacks by Kukis (who they view as illegal immigrants from Myanmar) and the inability or unwillingness of the central security forces to save them from attacks by Kukis — looted police armouries and organised themselves into armed groups. 

Kukis, on the other hand, got sophisticated arms smuggled in from Myanmar. Cadres of Chin resistance groups in Myanmar (Chins also belong to the same larger ethnic group of Zo people) also crossed over into Manipur to join the fight against Meiteis. It is suspected that Kuki militants who are under the SoO agreement also participated in the violence against Meiteis. 

The situation now

The Meitei-Kuki ethnic divide is sharp and the two communities are still daggers drawn. Killings by armed groups belonging to both communities continue despite the heavy presence of security forces. 

The state police are looked at with suspicion by Kukis who oppose their deployment in the hills. The Meiteis, on the other hand, distrust the Assam Rifles and accuse it of siding with the Kukis. 

The state administration has collapsed and there is little evidence of the government functioning in Manipur. Work on all welfare schemes and developmental projects has stopped for all practical purposes. 

The state police, and central security forces, have been unable to restore law and order and stop gunfights and killings. 

What’s worse, the ethnic divide between the Kukis and Meiteis is deepening and the conflict has had ramifications beyond Manipur’s borders. 

The conflict has also boosted the Kuki demand for a separate state, a demand that is vehemently opposed by Meiteis who hold the territorial integrity of Manipur sacred and close to their hearts. 

The conflict has also triggered an exodus of students, doctors, professionals and skilled manpower from Manipur to the rest of the country. This brain drain will have serious long-term implications for Manipur. 

What the union government needs to do immediately:

The situation prevailing in Manipur cannot be allowed to continue. The primary responsibility for pulling the state away from the brink lies with the union government. 

Here are the steps that the union government needs to take in Manipur:

1. Restore the rule of law

The state of lawlessness prevailing in Manipur at present needs to be stopped. 

The union government has to send the word out sternly and impartially to all militant, radical and civil society groups that violating the law and enforcing their writ will not be tolerated any more and will be dealt with a firm hand.

The enforcement of the rule of law will require tough action by central forces. The first task of the central security forces should be to disarm all groups. A deadline should be set for the surrender of weapons and ammunition with a strong warning that anyone possessing arms after the expiry of the deadline would be labelled a ‘militant’ and become a fair target for security forces. 

2. Update NRC and identify all illegal immigrants

It is a fact that the population of Kukis has risen exponentially in recent decades and the only explanation for that can be a large-scale and illegal influx of Kukis in Manipur from Myanmar.

The task of identifying these illegal infiltrators through an exercise to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and subsequently deporting them should be the top priority for the union government. 

3. Message to Kukis

The Kukis have to be told in no uncertain terms that while their genuine demands for security and development will be fulfilled, their demand for a separate state is unacceptable and there will be no compromise with Manipur’s territorial integrity. 

The Kukis will have to be told that they are required to reside in Manipur and accept the suzerainty of the state government. 

4. Caution Meitei groups

The conduct of Meitei groups, including many civil society groups, has been far from exemplary. From openly flaunting arms, indulging in extortions and other crimes, putting up roadblocks and checkpoints and acting as vigilantes to obstructing central security forces and spreading antipathy against Kukis, Meitei groups have been openly flouting the law and enforcing their writ in the Imphal Valley. 

They have to be told sternly that all transgressions of the law have to stop and any violations will be dealt with sternly. 

5. Overhaul the security apparatus

Immediately after largescale violence broke out in Manipur a year ago, the Union Home Ministry appointed former CRPF director general Kuldiep Singh as the security advisor to the state. 

An IPS officer belonging to the Tripura cadre, Rajiv Singh, was installed as the police chief and the security apparatus of the state was tinkered with. 

But it is high time the two are replaced. A simple, one-line brief — end violence at all costs — to the security forces should be enough to make them do their job. The forces, of course, have to be given a free hand. 

6. Stop mollycoddling Kuki and Meitei groups

In multiple failed attempts to keep the two sides — Meiteis and Kukis — happy, the authorities have pursued a policy of mollycoddling and appeasing both sides. Infractions and transgressions by both sides have been ignored and even winked at. 

This policy, as is apparent, has failed and should be abandoned right away. Buying peace through appeasement doesn’t work.

Both sides and the many groups claiming to represent both the communities, have to be told firmly that they have to operate within the boundaries of the law; transgressions will invite harsh action.

Hate speeches and divisive actions by both sides have to be put down with a heavy hand. The message that the law of the land is supreme and any one or group can violate it only at their own peril has to go out strongly. Transgressions have to meet with exemplary punishment to reinforce this message. 

7. Ensure foolproof security for all

Right now, both communities trust their own vigilantes, radicals and militants much more than police and security forces for their security. This has to end and the security forces have to firmly establish their writ all over the state. 

Everyone has to be made to understand that possession and/or display of arms is a serious crime and anyone doing so will become a fair target of the security forces. Neutralising a few who illegally possess arms and use those arms will send an effective message and make people fall in line. 

At the same time, foolproof security has to be provided to both communities by the security forces. Attacks by vigilantes, armed groups and militants belonging to one group on people belonging to another ethnic group have to be treated as actions hostile to the nation and dealt with accordingly.

That is the only way to restore people’s faith in the security forces and eliminate their dependence on armed groups and militants belonging to their respective communities for their security. 

8. Launch all-out operations against armed groups and militants

Security forces have to be asked to launch an all-out offensives against armed groups and militants of both the communities. This operation should be even-handed: militants and armed men and women of both groups have to be targeted and eliminated simultaneously. There should be no bias for or against any community. 

9. Seal India-Myanmar border completely and ask BSF to guard it

The highly porous India-Myanmar border has to be fenced and sealed. The ongoing fencing works have to be expedited and completed on mission mode so that influx of Chin-Kukis and Chin militants from Myanmar, as well as cross-border drug trafficking, stops completely.

There is also a case for the Assam Rifles be replaced with the BSF whose primary mandate is to guard international borders. The Assam Rifles is best used in internal security duties and as a second line of defence against external aggression. 

10. Get the government machinery functioning

Right now, everything is in limbo in Manipur. Work on all projects and schemes has halted and the thousands of government employees are doing little more than twiddling their thumbs and drawing their salaries. 

The state machinery has to be kick-started into functioning and departments responsible for development projects and implementation of the many government welfare schemes have to be told to start working right away. 

Citing law and order as an excuse to shirk work should not be tolerated any longer. 

The government cannot abdicate its responsibilities. And good governance can go a long way in restoring people’s faith in the state. 

12. Broker peace between two communities

So far, only half-hearted efforts have been made to bring the two warring communities together to smoke the peace pipe. 

Sincere and determined efforts have to be made now to get representatives of both the communities talking to each other. The Meiteis and the Kukis have to be made to realise that they have to live with each other. 

While Meteis, who are in the majority, have a greater responsibility, the Kukis should also be asked to stop playing the victim card. 

Well-respected and sober representatives of both the communities have to be brought together, perhaps away from the public eye and media glare, and made to hammer out an understanding that will pave the way for reconciliation. 

Setting up a reconciliation commission that will bring about a closure to the horrific ethnic violence that has wracked the state would be a good idea. 

Things have been allowed to drift for far too long in Manipur and half-hearted measures, as well as appeasement and turning a blind eye to law violations, have clearly not worked. 

As Manipur completes a bloody year of ethnic conflict, it is time the union government halts this drift and puts the state back on the tracks. Inaction will cost the country dear.