Manipur marks one year of ethnic conflict

NEW DELHI: Prayer meetings, rallies and shutdowns were held in several parts of Meitei-majority Imphal Valley, and the Kuki-Zo-dominated hills districts of Manipur as the north-eastern state marked one year of the beginning of ethnic clashes and conflict that have imposed a heavy cost resulting in total deaths of about 226 persons and 16 security personnel.

More than 1,500 people have been injured and around 60,000 people displaced within the state, and at least 13,247 structures have been gutted or destroyed. At least 28 people continue to be missing or presumed kidnapped or murdered, according to a report in The Indian Express on Friday.

Last year on May 3, a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status led to ethnic clashes between the Meitei and the Kuki communities.

The conflict, which has impacted everyday life in myriad ways, has claimed more than 200 lives and displaced many thousands, according to a PTI report.

The three main ethnic groups in the northeast state have historically clustered in different parts of the state’s geography - the Meiteis in the valley, the Kukis in the southern hills and the Nagas in the northern hills. But there has never been an absolute, hostile segregation of the communities. Now, the Meiteis population is concentrated in Imphal Valley and the Kukis have shifted to the hills.

Nothing illustrates the state’s deep ethnic fault lines better than the bordering areas dividing the plain and hill districts, the agency report said.

Concertina coils, armoured vehicles, armed security personnel, sandbag bunkers... The checkpoints, be it at the border between Bishnupur and Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, or Meitei-controlled Imphal West and Kuki ‘area’ Kangpokpi, almost resemble boundaries between hostile nations. The conflict has segregated not just civil society but also police personnel and government officials, the report said.

While the travel from hills to the Valley and vice-versa is restricted for people from the other community, non-Kuki and non-Meitei people can travel provided they pass certain checks.

The continuing tensions have a ripple effect, affecting people in ways big and small.

With facilities in Imphal out of reach, people from Churachandpur have been travelling to Aizawl - a journey of over 12 hours - for a variety of reasons, including medical needs that cannot be met in the Churachandpur district hospital.

The process to catch a flight is similar as the Imphal airport remains out of bounds for the Kukis. Groceries for relief camps in Churachandpur are also transported to Churachandpur through the same route. While over 4,200 weapons looted from the armouries in the violence-hit state continue to be untraceable, seeing young men with weapons is a common site in the fringe areas, the agency report said.

The state went to polls in two

phases for the two Lok Sabha seats--April 19 and 26.