Manipur priority is to end violence and gain people’s trust
The ethnic violence in Manipur is continuing unabated. Over a hundred people have lost their lives, and thousands have fled their homes. Properties worth crores have been destroyed. Many places of worship have been desecrated. The divide and distrust between the majority Meitei community and the tribals—Kuki-Zomi and Naga—is getting deeper. Both sides are getting increasingly segregated, with the tribals leaving the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley, and the Meiteis abandoning their homes and businesses in the hills, where the tribals are an overwhelming majority. Tension had been brewing for a while over issues like raids in the hills to stop alleged illegal cultivation of poppy and evict illegal migrants, but things boiled over after the state High Court asked the government to consider the long-pending Meitei demand to include them in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
The Biren Singh government failed to control the spread of violence and migration of the population. Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit helped calm things down, but violent attacks started again soon after. The government’s 51-member peace committee to talk with community leaders and redress issues has proved to be a non-starter. Allegations are that the committee was formed unilaterally, and people’s names were included without seeking their consent. Eminent theatre director Ratan Thiyam, a Meitei, withdrew from the peace committee, saying the government needs political will to bring the situation under control. The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winner and former chairperson of the National School of Drama also said that things would not return to normalcy unless the Centre comes into the picture. A Meitei organisation that was included in the committee also exited. So did the apex Kuki body.
The Centre’s presence and actions are yet to be felt in the state. Neutral central forces must be deployed in the buffer zone to prevent attacks from both sides. Kukis believe the currently deployed Manipur commandos are biased against them. The Centre must simultaneously launch an operation to recover the looted arms and ammunition. More than 4,000 sophisticated weapons and countless ammunition have been looted, of which barely over a thousand have been recovered so far. Attacks will continue until the looted weapons are recovered. There are also allegations of bias in relief distribution that need urgent redressal. It is time the Centre moved fast to douse the raging flames in Manipur.