Two months of Manipur violence: Was it a state sponsored act?

It has been two months since the violence in Manipur started on 03^rd of May 2023 and in the last two months, scores of people were killed mercilessly, hundreds of villages turned into ashes, and several thousands were displaced from their roots. The ethnic clashes which started between the majority Meitei community and Kuki-Zo minorities are not seeing an end despite of all efforts and there are serious allegations on the Chief Minister of Manipur Mr N.Biren Singh sponsoring this ethnic cleansing against Kukis. There are reasons to believe that what happened since 03^rd May was part of a large-scale conspiracy.

If we put the events of the last six months in sequence, we will find that N.Biren Singh led the government of Manipur and systematically instigatedKuki-Zo population so that they carry out at least one act of vandalism in which they were successful too. This was planned so that the entire blame for starting the violence can be put on the minority Kuki-Zo population. Let us discuss ten reasons which prove that the violence was a state-sponsored act.

Forest survey& selective eviction of tribals – The turbulences started first when the Manipur government started a forest survey in the hill districts of Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal. The real purpose of this survey was not known however a large number of Kuki-Zo people were forcefully evicted from their roots terming them as encroachers. This brought a lot of resentment, and the tribal population was antagonized. As a result, smaller protests started in these districts. Surprisingly, when it comes to hill tribes, a significant population of Nagas stay in the hills of Senapati, Tamenglong, Chandel, and Ukhrul districts but no such survey was undertaken in these areas which proves that all the actions of the state government were selective and were directed against Kuki-Zo community only.

Removal of AFSPA from Valley – Historically, all the terror groups which are active in Manipur and are fighting against the Indian government are from the majority Meitei community to which Mr N. Biren Singh belongs too. Most of their terror activities too are coordinated either from the valley area or from the terror camps in Myanmar. At this juncture, the Manipur government selectively proposed the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Imphal Valley on 25^th March 2023 so that central security forces cannot carry out any kind of searches or operations against these terror groups. One of the possible reasons as quoted by a few experts was to allow Meitei extremist groups to prepare for a possible conflict.

Unilaterally withdrawal of SoO against Kuki-Zo groups- Indian Government has signed a suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with almost all Kuki-Zo extremist groups and there has been no incident of its violation in last two decades. Further, any kind of SoO agreement is considered a matter of union list but in March 2023 itself, N.Biren Singh government unilaterally withdrew the SoO agreement against three of the most prominent Kuki-Zo groups terming them illegal without any consultation with the central government. This put the state-controlled Manipur Police directly against these groups and the police started operating against these groups which further infuriated the tribals.

Inclusion of Meitei in scheduled tribes-On 20^th April 2023, just two weeks before the violence, a judge of the Manipur High Court unilaterally heard a petition and ordered the State government of Manipur to include Meitei’s in Scheduled Tribes (ST) within 4 weeks. This was an unconstitutional step which was later confirmed by another bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, but the damage was already caused. Quoting this order, tribal people started protesting as their very existence was now under threat. The circumstances under which this order was passed and the role of state government in the entire episode is under suspicion.

Sequence of violence and modus operandi – The entire sequence indicates that the violence was pre-planned. Minutes after the violence broke out in the solidarity rally of the Kuki-Zo people in Churachandpur, attackers armed with petrol bombs, sharp-edge weapons, and firearms started attacking minorities in Imphal Valley. They were organized under the flag of two extremist organizations “Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun” which were formed barely months before the violence. These groups recruited a large number of volunteers and surrendered terrorists of valley-based groups in their ranks. These volunteers were being trained in various grounds, stadiums, and halls of the Meitei community for a possible fight under the nose of the state government. It was the failure of state government which ignored these sights.

Not only this, the fiery statements from the leaders of these groups were also conveniently ignored by the Manipur government’s law enforcement agencies. Soon after the events on 03^rd May, these groups looted over 4000 sophisticated weapons and ammunition from the headquarters of Manipur Police, Reserve battalions, and shops of Arms dealers within the valley area and surprisingly, there was no resistance from the state police or any other state force which is just not possible had there been no involvement of state government in this.

In later days, these groups started attacking Kuki-Zo villages located in the periphery of the Valley area and they were assisted by womenfolk (Meirapaibis), State police and local people. They were moving in large convoys of several dozen vehicles openly brandishing Arms which was authenticated by the Indian Army too. Everything was happening in an organized way. While local police provided them with the information, the womenfolk (Meirapaibis) stopped central security forces from reaching the place of the incident so that the rioters have a free run. Surprisingly no action was taken against any of these and not even a single rioter is arrested till now.

When the central government took a Suo-moto notice of the loot of weapons and dispatched a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate, these Meirapaibis gathered in large numbers and did not allow the CBI team to enter the premises of the Manipur Police Training Centre (MPTC). Interestingly, the state police officers accompanying the CBI team withdrew from the place and as a result CBI team too had to fall back citing their own security. Can it happen without the involvement of the state government?

The incidents of Churachandpur are another example where officers of Manipur police fired at rioters killing 38 people in a single day because the rioters were from Kuki-Zo community, but the same Manipur police did not even carry out a small lathi-charge or lobbed tear gases against the rioters who were from their own Meitei community. Voices inside Manipur police indicate that they had clear orders from state government not to take any action against the Meitei people.

Partial action against Kuki officers of Manipur Police – The Director General of Police in Manipur was incidentally from Kuki community, and he voiced his concerns right when the violence started. Yet, state government removed not only him but other officers of the Kuki community too from active duties without any reason while the officers of the majority Meitei community continue to serve at their respective places. These Meitei officers were not only helping their rioters but also stopping central security forces from taking action. These selective steps directly point out that the primary perpetrator of the violence was none but the State government of Manipur.

Role of Valley-based terrorist groups- The active syndicate of the politicians of Manipur and the valley-based Meitei terrorist groups is not a secret. Be it the removal of AFSPA form valley area or the snatching of 12 hardcore terrorists from Indian Army by Meirapaibis, the involvement of valley-based terrorist groups was visible everywhere. There are inputs that a large number of these terrorists have moved out from their camps in Myanmar and are now moving openly in Imphal valley under the protection of politicians and Meirapaibis. Further, there are reports that a large part of the looted weapons is already handed over to these groups preparing them for a long haul against government of India.

Selective distribution of aid to people – Despite of the fact that over 80% of the displaced people are from Kuki-Zo community, state government has organized nearly all of its relief camps and aid distribution points in Imphal valleyonly where they are distributing aid to the people of their own community. Not only this, but there had also been instances where relief aid sent by some NGOs to the hill districts was stopped by Manipur police in the name of security and not allowed to reach the affected people. This shows a biased mindset of the Manipur government and proves their involvement in the riots.

Channeling National Media – It is a known fact that nearly 100% of the top media houses in Manipur are owned by people of Meitei community and their role in spreading rumors as well as abetting riots is not a secret anymore. However, after the riots, when people of National Media reached Manipur, they were channelized in such a way so that they are able to see only one face of the coin. The areas where the villages of Kuki-Zo people were burnt were declared unsafe and the media was prohibited from going, while the places where the majority of communities faced violence were repeatedly covered. This points out at the intention of the government and an effort to create a one-sided perspective.

Creation of fake narratives – In riot-torn Manipur, where the state government should have prioritized its action, nearly all of the politicians as well as media were involved in peddling fake narratives like Drug Business, Infiltration form Myanmar, Hindu vs Christian, Involvement of Myanmar military junta, rape of hundreds of Meitei women by Kukis and so on. It is extremely unfortunate that despite of the fact that there were sensitive issues like loot of sophisticated weapons, movement of large number of trained terrorists and organized riots against a community, the state government was giving flimsy reasons blaming the minority community trying to brush the important issues under the carpet. So far, they have not even released the list of looted weapons. In Manipur larger question now is not one community vs another community but it’s the question of India’s integrity.

Two months and the fire is still on. Minority people are suffering, being displaced, and getting killed. Central agencies are trying their bit to control the situation but are not allowed by the state government and there is chaos everywhere. Ideally the central government should have taken a note of this situation and imposed presidential rule immediately so that central agencies can work but their failure to do so is causing serious harm. It is difficult to predict as to when the violence will end but even if it ends, the scars will remain forever.

(Article by Major Amit Bansal)