In the face of increased violence that has claimed the lives of over 200 people since the clashes started on May 3 of last year, the two well-known groups that represent the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur on Friday hardened their positions and demanded action from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government.
Seven people, including two police officers, have died, and at least twelve others, including three members of the Border Security Force (BSF), have been injured in recent conflicts that have occurred in the districts of Tengnoupal, Thoubal, Bishnupur, and Imphal West since Tuesday.
A committee from the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), which is an umbrella organisation for Meitei organisations, met chief minister N Biren Singh at his Imphal home on Friday. They issued a warning to take action against those who are killing security personnel and civilians.
“Over the past few days, there have been more attacks on our people in Moreh and other locations. COCOMI organiser Jeetendra Ningomba stated, “We discussed these in detail with the CM and demanded some visible action on the government’s part, like targeting Chin-Kuki terrorists who are illegally bringing weapons from Myanmar.”
Despite the presence of several security officers from the state police, Indian Army, and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPS), the group held the government accountable for its inability to prevent attacks on security forces and civilians.
It appears that the situation in Manipur bothers the centre. In order for the central government to take action to put an end to this violence, we urged the CM to brief it on the situation on the ground. We will have no choice but to speak up or start an agitation if they don’t,” Ningomba said.
On the other side, the powerful Kuki organisation Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) charged the state administration with backing Meiteis on Friday and issued a warning.
Following an attack on security personnel and the arrest of two Kuki people who are thought to have been involved in the death of a police officer last year, the recent wave of violence in Moreh, Tengnoupal, intensified.
Tengnoupal, where the Kuki tribe predominates, has seen periodic acts of violence for more than two weeks, including multiple cases of armed miscreants attacking security personnel.
The ITLF had given the state government 48 hours on January 16 to free the two, calling the accusations of their involvement in the crime a “blatant lie.”
“The government did not give our requests any thought. We shall not permit the Meitei-only communal government to operate in the Kuki-Zo areas in a biassed manner. The ITLF announcement stated that any unfortunate events that may occur throughout the procedure will be entirely the responsibility of the government.
Since May of last year, ethnic violence in Manipur has been raging between the Kuki-Zo groups, who are prominent in a few hill districts, and the Meitei communities, who make up the majority in the Imphal Valley. At least 207 people have died as a result of the violence, and about 50,000 have been displaced.
New violence broke out in different areas of Manipur on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, leaving five civilians dead and three Border Security Force (BSF) officers injured.
This occurs one day after an armed militant attack in Tengnoupal on Wednesday morning left two police officers dead and six injured, bringing the total number of casualties to nine over the course of the previous two days.
“We’ve taken action to enable all forces to unite and take action…To curb the violence in Moreh, joint activities have been identified and are currently in progress.We are making every effort to address the matter. Kuldeep Singh, the state security adviser, stated on Thursday that “we hope in a day or two we will be able to do so.”
