New Delhi: The Indian Army along with the Assam Rifles, which has been deployed in large numbers along with CRPF to quell the violence that has been going on for nearly two months in Manipur, have a unique problem at hand – organised groups of unarmed women.
Sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that whenever an Army convoy moves towards a trouble spot in the ethnic violence-hit state, women turn out in large groups numbering from a few hundreds to over a thousand block roads and passes.
Such has been the challenge that the Dimapur-based 3 Corps, which looks after Manipur too, has had to put out a video appealing for people to “help us to help Manipur”.
Women activists in #Manipur are deliberately blocking routes and interfering in Operations of Security Forces. Such unwarranted interference is detrimental to the timely response by Security Forces during critical situations to save lives and property.
🔴 Indian Army appeals to… pic.twitter.com/Md9nw6h7Fx— SpearCorps.IndianArmy (@Spearcorps) June 26, 2023
Such confrontation has also led to the hours-long tense stand-off including over the weekend when the Army was forced to let go off a dreaded terrorist, who was the mastermind of the 2015 ambush of a Dogra Regiment convoy which claimed the lives of 20 soldiers.
Security forces had launched an operation acting on specific intelligence in Itham village, 6 km East of Andro, in Imphal East district on the morning of 24 June, the sources said. The area was cordoned before the search commenced to avoid inconvenience to the locals.
The operation resulted in the apprehension of 12 cadres of Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), including self-styled Lt. Col. Moirangthem Tamba alias Uttam, along with arms, ammunition and war-like stores.
The Army issued a statement saying that Uttam was the mastermind of ambush on 6th battalion of the Dogra Regiment in 2015 and that he was amongst the apprehended cadres.
“Mob of approximately 1,200-1,500, led by women and the local leader immediately surrounded the target area and prevented Security Forces from continuing with the operation, despite repeated appeals, to the aggressive mob, as per law. However, it did not yield any positive result.
“Keeping in view the sensitivity of use of kinetic force against large irate mobs and envisaged casualties due to such action, the officer on ground made a considerate decision to hand over all 12 cadres to local leaders. Own columns lifted the cordon and left the area with weapons and war like stores, recovered from insurgents,” the Army statement said.
The operational commander’s mature decision displays the humane face of the Indian Army, which is making all efforts to avoid any collateral damage and denies scope of escalating the situation, it added.
Asked why the security forces let the apprehended cadres go, a visibly agitated source said: “It was the Army that was there. They don’t carry ‘danda’ (stick) with them but rifles, and they are trained to shoot to kill. Did you want them to open fire on the women and make their way through?”
The soldiers did open fire in the air to instil fear but the women refused to budge, the sources said.
“Had there been an armed attempt by militants to target the security forces to free those apprehended, the Army would have got their way through but these were over 1,000 women blocking the road. The convoy could have ended up as a sitting duck for armed groups,” another source said.
In Manipur, these women are known as ‘Meira Paibi’ (women torch bearers), and they are also locally known as ‘Imas’ (mothers in Meitei).
“These groups are well-organised. Security forces have even tried to move their convoys at 3 AM but they have observers who relay information and within minutes, the group gathers. They have proper shifts to work. It happens in a very coordinated manner,” a third source said.
The third source added that the issue becomes acute when the convoy has to rush in towards an incident of violence. “They will block the road and the convoy is forced to take a circuitous route. A journey which would normally take an hour can turn into four hours because of them,” the third source added.
These women allegedly accompany armed men and they go along with groups who indulge in arsoning while the women prevent security forces from reaching the area, according to the sources.
In June, they added, the security forces had to deal with these groups of women on multiple occasions whenever they moved out.
The sources said that the Army and the Assam Rifles are forced to exercise restraint because the idea behind using women is to ensure that if the Army actually uses force, there would be casualties.
“The Army can fire their way through but will lead to some casualties and the entire incident will spin into something else totally. These groups of women are afraid of the Rapid Action Force who carry out lathi charge, but Army soldiers don’t carry sticks or are not trained for crowd management. It is not their job,” a fourth source explained.
Sources again underlined that the bigger question is what should be the quantum of force and which security agency is best suited to deal with them. They added that had instrument of the state behaves ‘hard’ and therefore there is a dilemma.
The movement came into national consciousness when 12 Imas disrobed in front of the Kangla Fort — then the headquarters of the Assam Rifles — in Imphal on 15 July, 2004 to protest the rape, torture, mutilation and murder of Thangjam Manorama.
Also Read: Manipur violence shows death of civil society. One ethnic group’s autonomy isn’t the solution
‘Breakdown in policing’
Sources said that another big issue is the breakdown of the police system in Manipur where the toll in ethnic violence has crossed 100.
“It is not Manipur Police now. The entire policing has been divided into ethnic lines. There is now a Meitei Police and a Kuki Police. Arrests of individuals are not taking place and there is a complete law and order breakdown,” one of the sources cited above said.
Such was the breakdown of the police system that the central government had to send in Tripura cadre senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh on inter-cadre deputation for three years last month.
Singh was then appointed on 1 June as the new director general of police of Manipur for three years “as a special case in public interest”.
The central government has also appointed former CRPF chief Kuldiep Singh as a security adviser to the Manipur government.
ThePrint had reported on how arms were looted from police battalions and stations at multiple locations in Manipur. Though the lootings were primarily concentrated in the valley area dominated by the Meiteis, there were also similar reports from the hill district of Churachandpur, which is primarily inhabited by the Kukis.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: More than 6 weeks on, Manipur is still ablaze. It’s a saga of failures, from state govt to Centre