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HomeIndiaKuki-Meitei faultline in violence-hit Manipur triggers fears of 'ethnic cleansing'

Kuki-Meitei faultline in violence-hit Manipur triggers fears of ‘ethnic cleansing’

Observers say movement of Kukis out of Meitei areas, and vice versa, an impractical solution to the differences that culminated in violence in Manipur this month.

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Imphal: Something worrying seems to be afoot in Manipur in the wake of the violence earlier this month between the tribal Kukis and non-tribal Meiteis.

As part of relief efforts, the Meitei population in tribal-majority Hill areas has been moved out, with a similar trend under way in the Meitei-majority Valley areas. Add the fact that many people have moved out of their own accord, and there are fears about a possible segregation taking root in the state.

Barring a handful of top civil servants and police officers, Imphal has been cleared of almost all Kukis — civilians or otherwise, a Manipur government official told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.

“All the Meiteis living in the Hill districts dominated by the Kukis have also been rescued and brought to relief camps and are being moved to Imphal valley,” the official said.  

Kuldiep Singh, the Centre-appointed security adviser to Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, had told ThePrint last Thursday that the exchange of people between the Valley and the Hills is almost over. 

“The majority of the Kukis have been moved out of the Valley and taken to their hometowns,” he said. “The Meiteis, who were living in the Hills, have been evacuated and brought to the relief camps set across the Hill districts. They are now being moved to the Valley,” Singh said. 

A senior state government official involved in the relief operations said that, since 3 May, when violence first erupted, approximately 20,000 Kukis have been evacuated and put up in relief camps across the Valley, while about 10,000 Meiteis have been rescued from the Hill districts and are being brought back to Imphal valley. But observers say that unofficial numbers could be much larger.

The violence witnessed in Manipur in the first week of May left a death toll of over 60. A Kuki BJP MLA was almost lynched by a mob on 3 May, and left with injuries so grievous he remains in a coma in a Delhi hospital.

On both sides, property belonging to the other community was set on fire or vandalised as civilians were forced to flee to relief camps set up by the security forces and civil groups.

While the Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status is said to be the immediate trigger for the violence, old resentments — among Meiteis, suspicions about “demographic changes” in the Hills and their potential consequences, and among Kukis, a perception that they are being targeted by the government of Biren Singh, a Meitei — served as fuel.

In the aftermath, there is a desire for things to return to normal, but fear lurks.


Also Read: Meitei & Kuki clashes reveal deep community divide in Manipur’s bureaucracy: ‘Never seen this before’


‘Felt unsafe’

The fear is so strong that not only civilians, but even Kuki MLAs, including from the ruling BJP, have deserted Imphal. 

Paolienlal Haokip, a Kuki BJP MLA, said all legislators of the community have moved out of the Valley. 

“Didn’t you see what happened to our colleague Valte (Vungzagin Valte, the MLA who was attacked)? Despite being elected representatives, my colleagues and I felt unsafe here and decided to move out of Imphal,” he added.

A Kuki BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said Kuki BJP MLAs who had visited Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday did not fly back to Imphal. 

“Most of us are flying to Aizawl (Mizoram), from where we will go to Churachandpur (Manipur) or to Guwahati (Assam), from where we will go to our respective constituencies,” the leader added. 

“We do not feel confident to enter Imphal. If this is how we feel, I don’t blame civilian Kukis if they are feeling unsafe and moving out of Imphal valley,” the BJP leader added. 

Barring a few at the top, almost all Kuki officials in the civil and police administration — senior, mid-level or junior — have taken temporary leave and moved out of Imphal, a senior Manipur Administrative Service officer said. 

A senior police officer said the Kuki constabulary and riflemen are all gone too.  

The same insecurity appears to have gripped the Meiteis, too. “Come what may, no Meitei driver in Imphal is today willing to go anywhere in the Hill districts. There is no way you can go to the Hills if you are a Meitei. The segregation is complete,” a second Manipur Police officer said. 

In Imphal, these days, one often comes across the word “Meitei” — typed on paper in English and Bengali script — pasted on the gates of houses that flank Kuki-dominated colonies. 

That’s the first thing that catches the eye just before one enters Khongsai Veng, a small residential Kuki-dominated locality in the heart of Imphal. 

Khongsai Veng | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint
Khongsai Veng | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

A Manipur Police officer posted at Khongsai Veng said these notices with the name of the community came up in the aftermath of the violence. 

“People are afraid that the Meitei mob might come and attack Kuki homes again,” the officer added. “So, the Meiteis living in the vicinity are displaying their identity so that they are spared.” 

As in many other places ravaged by the violence, the air in Khongsai Veng is heavy with a burning smell. Broken shards of glass lie around, as do mangled iron gates, and damaged vehicles and furniture. Framing this scene of destruction are fully or partially burnt houses. 

Khongsai Veng got its name from Khongsais, a Kuki sub-tribe who came and settled here long back. 

It is inhabited mostly by government employees belonging to the Kuki tribe. However, two weeks after the violence, almost all of them have gone, and the 200-odd houses in Khongsai Veng, where approximately 500 Kukis lived, are empty. 

The locality is now primarily playing host to over two dozen personnel of Manipur Police and Rapid Action Force, who are on duty to protect it.  

“Not a single person is living here anymore. It’s not safe,” a Manipur policeman told ThePrint Monday.

The first senior Manipur government official quoted above said “all the Kukis living in Khongsai Veng are gone”. 

“The security agencies rescued [them] and first took them to relief camps. Those who could, flew out of Manipur, but a majority of them are being escorted by the security forces from the relief camps and taken to their homes in the Hill districts,” the official added. “Only a small number of Kukis are now left in relief camps.”

Damaged property in Khongsai Veng | By special arrangement
Damaged property in Khongsai Veng | By special arrangement

Near Khongsai Veng is Lamphaelpat, where government quarters of top civil servants, police officers, ministers, MLAs and other government employees are located. 

This high-security zone, too, was attacked on 4 May by a mob, and the homes of the top police officer of the state, Director General of Police P. Doungel, and his deputy, Additional Director General of Police Clay Khongsai, both from the Kuki community, were attacked. 

The mob threw stones inside the officers’ homes, and tried to break open the iron gate with rods and sticks.  

‘Now is the time for dialogue’

Observers, including Manipuri academics and government officials from both the communities, said that the state has not seen such flushing out of people from a particular community ever. 

“It’s unprecedented in the history of Manipur… The government is calling it an exchange of people. It’s more like an exchange of prisoners of war,” said Thongkholal Haokip, assistant professor, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“The whole idea of flushing out Kukis from the Valley is akin to ethnic cleansing of tribals from the Valley,” he added. 

Y. Joykumar Singh, former deputy CM in the first term of the Biren Singh government and a member of the National People’s Party (NPP), called the move “impractical” and “unrealistic”.

“By segregating two communities like this, you are partitioning the state. Instead of restoring normalcy, this will further complicate the situation,” he added. “Now is the time for dialogue between the elders of the two communities.”


Also Read: ‘How ridiculous’ — When neighbours fled neighbours as violence burnt down Manipur villages


 

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