Churachandpur: Life limped back to normal in Manipur’s Churachandpur district Saturday after two days of blockade by Kuki protesters and a total shutdown call by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognised tribes in the district.
Sporadic incidents of violence and clashes between locals and security forces were reported from various parts of the district Friday. A day later, the civil society organisations including the ITLF decided to suspend all demonstrations – “for the time being”.
Roads were cleared, young protesters returned home and people woke up to clear skies Sunday as church bells reverberated through. A spell of rain Saturday night had washed away the charred imprints of the blockade and protests.
Speaking to ThePrint Saturday evening, ITLF chairman Pagin Haokip said they wanted to discuss the issues with “representatives from the Centre and not with the state leadership”.
“We had a meeting among us to clear the roadblocks. So, for the time being – no protests. The (state) government has invited us to talk. But we want to sit with the Centre, not with the state. We have lost hope in the present government.”
Over the past two months, tensions have been on the rise in Manipur between the N. Biren Singh-led state government and the ethnic Kuki tribal groups, leading to protests and acts of violence in the hill districts.
Friday’s shutdown was part of the ITLF’s “non-cooperation with all government-related programmes” call. Leaders of the Kuki community have alleged that the state government is targeting legitimate residents of Manipur by carrying out evictions in villages, which the government claims have sprung up on encroached reserved forest land.
ThePrint made numerous attempts over phone calls and messages to contact the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police in Churachandpur district for an official assessment of the scenario, but no response was received at the time of publishing this report. It will be updated once a response comes.
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How Saturday unfolded
It was around 2 pm Saturday when an ambulance entered the Kaprang area, the “entry point” to Churachandpur district, about 63 km from capital Imphal. Young Kuki volunteers who had set up a roadblock were quick to clear the logs and let the ambulance pass.
The site of the blockade was next to a sign board by the Evangelical Church Association in the locality reading “Prepare to meet Thy God — Na-Pathen Lamto Din Kigon (Kuki language) — Chapter Amos 4:12”.
By Saturday evening, all roadblocks were cleared across Churachandpur and the additional troops that had been dispatched to the district to quell protests returned.
The scene was charged up earlier on Saturday when ThePrint entered Churachandpur — scores of local youth gathered every 500 metres of the way from Kaprang to New Lamka, protesting against the state’s alleged apathy towards tribals.
“We are gathered here since Friday night. It’s because of the way the state government treats us — the tribals in comparison to the non-tribals or the Valley people. It’s unfair,” said David, identifying himself as a volunteer from Kaprang area.
Geographically, Manipur is divided into hill and valley areas. The districts of Kangpokpi, Churachandpur, Tamenglong, Chandel, Ukhrul and Senapati are notified as “hill districts” which are inhabited by groups of Naga and various Kuki-Chin-Mizo or Zo ethnic tribes, while the ethnic Meitei population or the non-tribals live in the valley areas.
The Kuki population in Manipur is about 30 per cent of the state’s 28.5 lakh population, according to Census 2011.
On Saturday morning, some protesters carried catapults to arm themselves against possible use of force by the security forces.
Volunteers in Tuijang, T Khonomphai, K Salbung and other villages allowed us to pass, with some showing alternate routes, and others, including women from the community, clearing the rocks, logs and spikes along National Highway 102B that passes through Manipur and Mizoram. In Manipur, it is also known as the Tedim Road.
Heavy security presence was witnessed outside the Churachandpur police station. Just 50 metres away, a group of boys squatted on the road, uncertain of what was going to come.
A student aspiring to appear for the state civil services exam Sunday was making his way out of Churachandpur, hoping to reach capital Imphal before dusk.
“Bandhs, strikes, blockade – no time to rest in Manipur,” said Thangboi, the Manipur Public Service Commission aspirant.
A resident of New Lamka, which is largely an area of Paites, the second-largest tribe in Churachandpur, told ThePrint: “We have never faced such a situation before. My six-month-old baby normally sleeps around 7 pm but on Friday, gunshots continued till late night, making him quiver every time. He was shocked and frightened. The teargas fumes were also everywhere.”
Another local who did not wish to be named said the resentment and the protests were directed towards the government and not the Meitei people in the hills. “This is not a communal fight. We are not fighting against the Meiteis, but the state government for our rights.”
Simmering tensions
The ITLF had announced an eight-hour total shutdown in Churachandpur district Thursday evening after unidentified locals set ablaze a newly constructed ‘Open Gym’ at PT Sports Complex in the district.
The open gym was scheduled to be inaugurated by CM Biren Singh Friday. The miscreants had also ransacked the Sadbhavana Mandap, the venue for the inauguration event.
Clashes were reported towards the evening on Friday, soon after the shutdown ended at 4 pm. Locals clashed with security forces in areas like Tuibong, Sielmat and New Lamka. The police resorted to firing teargas shells as locals pelted stones at security personnel deployed in their areas.
Three persons were reportedly injured in Friday’s clashes, one of them grievously, when live rounds were allegedly fired to disperse protesters.
“About 25 people sustained minor injuries, while three others have been hospitalised,” Haokip told ThePrint.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 remain imposed in the district even as locals were seen moving around freely Saturday. Internet services stay suspended until further orders.
In a statement Thursday, the ITLF mentioned that there were apprehensions about the government carrying out surveys pertaining to Reserved Forests, Protected Forests, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Wetland in the district besides eviction of villages.
On 20 February, the state government along with police forces had evicted residents of a Kuki tribal village, K Songjang, in Kangvai sub-division in Churachandpur district after serving notifications to the village chief.
Locals including the ITLF termed it a “forceful eviction” while the government claimed the village, which is located along the border of Churachandpur and Noney districts, was an encroachment on Churachandpur-Khoupum protected forest land.
The eviction was “not done” in conformity with the provisions of Article 371C of the Constitution (special provision with respect to the state of Manipur), and adhering to the rights, custom and usages of the hill tribal population, the ITLF had alleged, and requested the state government to provide “immediate and adequate compensation to the villagers of K. Songjang, and to rehabilitate the displaced villagers”.
Another incident that “deeply hurt local sentiments” was the demolition of churches in Imphal. On 11 April, the state government demolished three churches, one each of Catholic, Baptist and Lutheran sects, in the Imphal East district following the vacation of a stay order by the High Court of Manipur.
The Manipur government has repeatedly said that the churches were demolished as they had been constructed on government land, without permission from the district administration.
Christians in Manipur form a significant 41.29 per cent of the state’s population, and are the majority in five hills districts (Census 2011).
The ITLF had condemned the demolitions in a statement, saying that the Manipur government has “no consideration and respect for something deeply sacred to the Christian faith.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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