A severe curfew was reinstated in Imphal and Bishnupur on Thursday, a day after new instances of ethnic violence were reported from other districts of Manipur. However, concerned citizens continued to remain inside, while businesses calculated their losses.
No new incidents of violence were reported from the northeastern state of Manipur on Thursday, according to senior government officials, but troops were stationed in key areas to maintain the flimsy quiet and more will be sent in over the coming days.
Since May 3, when tribal Kuki groups called for protests against a planned adjustment to the state’s reservation matrix, providing scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community, which makes up 53% of the state’s population, ethnic clashes have occurred often in Manipur. Over 73 people were killed, over 200 were wounded, and over 30,000 people were evacuated as a result of fires and assaults. Violence swiftly swept the state where racial fault lines ran deep.
While the majority of the violence occurred over three days, from May 3 to 5, in several districts, prompting the army’s intervention, sporadic incidents have continued to occur, delaying any efforts to restore normalcy and demonstrating that ethnic divisions still persist and there has been little progress towards reconciliation.
In the so far relatively calm Bishnupur district, one person was shot dead on Wednesday, another was injured by bullets, and three abandoned houses were set on fire by alleged militants. Additionally, there were allegations of houses being set on fire in Imphal neighbourhoods.
There is no violence in Bishnupur or Imphal, but the situation is still stressful, according to Kuldiep Singh, a former director general of the CRPF who was named the state’s security adviser after the fighting started. The security personnel are still on the scene. Because these are sites where the two populations cohabit, they are our areas of concern near the hills. Because of rumour mongering, there are certain remote areas where individuals are engaging in violent behaviour. We are moving forward.
Singh noted that 20 more paramilitary troops would be stationed in troubled regions over the coming days. In order to address the issue, he said, “more senior army and paramilitary officers will also be brought in.”
Senior police officers reported one instance from the Kangpokpi area in which alleged militants made an attempt to kidnap five Meiteis. “But the nearby peasants succeeded in pursuing them. Security personnel subsequently freed a small youngster who had been abducted, according to a senior official.
Imphal’s popular Khwairamband Keithel neighbourhood was deserted on Thursday as a result of the reinstatement of a curfew, with all of the shutters on the stores and commercial buildings closed. All forms of transport, from those that function on a local level between towns and districts to those that cross state lines, have ceased operating on their normal itineraries.
New conflicts entail a continuance of anxiety for individuals like auto-rickshaw driver Harojit Singh, a Meitei, which is made worse by the loss of daily salary. “The atmosphere is strained. Following the May 23 arson attacks on a number of homes in the New Chekon neighbourhood, a strict curfew has been imposed throughout Imphal city. In the last three days, I haven’t made a penny, Singh said.
Locals of Churachandpur, a mountainous area where the Kuki ethnic group predominates, reported a growing lack of basic necessities. A Kuki lawmaker stationed in the region lamented, “LPG cylinders are very hard to come by, several essential medications needed for those with diabetes and high blood pressure are running low, and we can’t send or receive money online because of the internet shutdown.”
We are being moved from one camp to another, a Kuki who escaped to the relief camp he is currently living in remarked. Letlunthang Haokip. While others have gone to Assam, our people are afraid to go back to West Imphal.