Manipur: A Heart-Wrenching Saga Of Lives Lost, Livelihoods Destroyed, Families Uprooted And Bonds Broken

An aerial view of the saucer-shaped Imphal Valley presents a picture of serenity with vast swathes of paddy fields dotted with many large and small agglomerations of human settlements. There are no signs of the horrific violence that wracked many parts of Manipur, including the Imphal Valley, over the past few days. 

But on landing at the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport at Tulihal in the outskirts of the state capital Imphal, the harsh reality of the widespread devastation that has singed the state strikes. 

The airport resembles the one at Kabul during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in mid-August, 2021. 

Hundreds of people, many of them students and people from other states, stay huddled in the departure and arrival lounges of the airport. Many times that number crowd the parking lot outside. 

All are waiting desperately for flights out of Imphal. But the number of flights is limited and fares on some are very high, putting them out of reach of most. 

But people would rather stay at the airport, guarded by the CISF and paramilitary forces, rather than risk returning to their homes. 

Scores of them have little to return to anyway--their homes have been looted and torched and all that they have now are a few worldly possessions packed into bags and suitcases, and memories of a past that will be difficult, if not impossible, to return to. 

Stepping out of the well-secured airport brings one to what resembles a war zone. The road from the airport to the city--National Highway 2--is lined by carcasses of vehicles on both sides. Mangled and burnt remains of sedans, SUVs, hatchbacks, pickups, trucks and buses make for a surreal scene straight out of a Bollywood apocalyptic movie.

All over the city, there are still telltale marks of arsonists, vandals and criminals, their hearts filled with hate and vengeance, who had run riot a few days ago to cause widespread devastation and deaths. 

There is an uneasy calm in curfew-bound Imphal. Soldiers of the army, Assam Rifles and central armed police forces (CAPFs) in full battle gear, their automatic rifles cocked, patrol the streets on foot and in armoured vehicles. 

Only a few civilians venture out, all on emergency work--to buy medicines and emergency provisions or visit injured and ailing in hospitals. Fear is writ large on their faces. They are also very tense, and often refuse to talk to roving mediapersons. 

But there is also anger, a lot of it. Anger over the state’s failure to protect them and tackle the rioters with a firm hand, anger over the injustices--real or perceived--they have suffered and anger over the wrongs that their respective communities have been allegedly subjected to. 

Manipur has not witnessed any major incident since Friday (May 5) when the Union Government took over law and order responsibilities by invoking Article 355 of the Constitution. 

The newly-appointed security advisor to the state, Kuldiep Singh, told Swarajya that only some minor clashes and tension generated by false rumours were reported over the past 24 hours. Singh, a former director general of the CRPF, was appointed to this post by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last week. 

“The law and order situation is now under complete control of security forces. Everything is calm now and the (security) forces have succeeded in restoring normalcy,” said Singh. 

Singh said that the administration has taken the help of civil society groups, NGOs, prominent citizens, elders of all communities and the Church (which wields a lot of influence over tribals who are all Christians) to restore communal harmony and ease ethnic tensions. 

Peace committees involving members of all communities have been formed and these committees have reached out to local communities to maintain peace. “These efforts have borne fruit. Tension only prevails in the peripheral areas of Imphal Valley and the foothills that have a mix of tribal and Meitei communities. Patrolling and flag marches by security forces have been stepped up in those areas,” Singh added. 

But the calm that prevails now is highly deceptive. Peace, imposed by gun-wielding soldiers, is temporary. 

That’s because last week’s violence--it started with attacks by Kukis on Meiteis in Churachandpur and spiralled out of control with retaliatory violence against Kukis in Imphal Valley--has caused a deep divide. 

Manipur, a cauldron of ethnicities and resulting tensions between different communities, has never presented a picture-perfect canvas of harmony. Ethnic tensions have often simmered under the surface. 

But this time, the rupture between Kukis and Meiteis is serious and severe. There is too much ill-will, even hatred, between the two communities to be overcome by peace committees and civil society interventions. 

There are alarming reports that Kuki militants belonging to the Kuki National Army (KNA) and the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) were involved in attacks on Meiteis in Churachandpur. 

“We have credible information that Kuki militants instigated and even led the attacks on Meiteis in Churachandpur,” a senior army officer based at the headquarters of the Indian Army’s 57 Mountain Division at Leimakhong told Swarajya. 

The fear is that many Valley-based (Meitei) militant groups who are now sheltered in the Sagaing province of Myanmar bordering Manipur will seek to avenge the attacks on Meiteis by Kuki militants. 

That’s why the Assam Rifles, which guards the porous and unfenced Indo-Myanmar border, has stepped up vigilance. “Drones have been deployed to mount surveillance on all tracks used by humans to cross the border. Army helicopters are also keeping vigil. We have installed security cameras and electronic surveillance equipment to prevent entry of militants into Manipur,” a commandant of an Assam Rifles battalion tasked with guarding the international border told Swarajya over phone from his battalion headquarters. 

The Manipur government’s move of breaking away from the ‘Suspension Of Operations’ (SOO) agreement with the KNA and ZRA in March this year was ill-advised. The SOO agreement was a tripartite one between the militant outfits and the state and Union governments. 

Army officers say that the state’s withdrawal from the SOO--thankfully, the Union Government has not followed suit--has complicated matters and emboldened the Kuki militants to return to arms.

“If cadres of the Valley-based militant outfits manage to cross the border and reach the (Imphal) Valley from their hideouts in Myanmar, we will have a major disaster in our hands. A full-scale conflict between the Kuki and Meitei militant groups, and miscreants from both the communities, will result in a bloodbath,” said the Leimakhong-based army officer. 

The overall outlook is not very promising, say security experts. “The army, Assam Rifles and CAPF soldiers cannot remain on the ground forever, but the reality is that chances of an outbreak of violence once we withdraw are very high,” said a senior CRPF officer. 

The latest round of ethnic violence has created too much bad blood between Meiteis and Kukis. Both communities have suffered immeasurably and are still counting their dead. Thousands of Kuki and Meitei families have lost their homes and have had to seek shelter in relief camps, or have fled the state. 

The wounds on the collective psyches of both the communities may never heal. And even if they do with the passage of time, the festering sores will remain to haunt Meiteis and Kukis for decades to come.