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Internally displaced persons (IDPs), who are living in relief camps, react during a protest rally demanding their resettlement in their native places, in Imphal, Manipur, on August 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
More than 45 days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) would reach out to the Meitei and Kuki-Zo groups in Manipur, no such meeting or outreach has materialised.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs in Manipur said that the indecisiveness of the Union Government in resolving the ethnic conflict has revived insurgency in the State, with banned groups running extortion rings and arms smuggling rackets.
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The sudden removal of Governor Anusuiya Uikey on July 27, days after she met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when the latter was visiting the State on July 8, has also led to many questions. Ms. Uikey, popular among both warring communities served 15 months at the Raj Bhavan. She took charge days before ethnic violence broke out between the tribal, hills-based Kuki-Zo and the valley-based Meitei communities in the State on May 3, 2023.
MHA outreach promise
On June 16, Mr. Shah met Ms Uikey in Delhi. A day later, he chaired a review of the security situation in Manipur which was attended by top police, army and State government officials.
After the meeting, the MHA issued a statement, saying, “Home Minister underscored the importance of coordinated approach to resolve the ongoing ethnic conflict. He said that the MHA will talk to both the groups, Meiteis and Kukis, so as to bridge the ethnic divide, at the earliest.”
‘20 BJP MLAs ready to quit’
Paolienlal Haokip, BJP MLA from Saikot in Churachandpur said he has not been approached by anyone from the Union government. He added that he was also not aware of any meeting of public representatives or members of civil society groups with A.K Mishra, the MHA’s adviser for the North East.
One of the BJP MLAs from the valley said, on condition of anonymity, that if the Centre does not act fast, then around 20 legislators would be forced to quit the party.
“For the last 14 months, no solution has been found. Except lip service from the Home Minister or the Prime Minister, nothing has changed. No party is more important than the people of Manipur. There are around 20 MLAs who are ready to quit the party,” the BJP member said. The BJP has 37 MLAs in the 60-member State Assembly.
False communal narrative
Another MLA said that attempts were being made to give a communal colour to the ongoing conflict. “In the past two months, You Tube and social media is flooded by videos that it is a clash between Christians and Hindus. Obviously, someone is funding the narrative. While religious places of Kuki-Zo were torched, so were Meitei temples, but Naga churches were not touched. Who is behind all this and who benefits from this?” the second MLA asked.
While Naga churches have not been targetted specifically, a few churches of the Meitei community have come under attack from radical Meitei groups like the Arambai Tenggol. The outfit has a stated objective of espousing and reviving Sanamahism, the pre-Hindu religious identity of Meiteis, among their community.
On June 10, 2023, the MHA had constituted a 51-member peace committee chaired by Ms. Uikey which never took off as it was rejected by both the communities.
‘Feeling neglected’
Wilubou Newmai from the Naga community who was part of the defunct committee called for it to be revived with new members. “Conflict such as that in Manipur not only causes distress and suffering among people, but also hampers progress and development. Peace committee should be revived with new faces acceptable to all the communities. Manipur violence is not related to religion. Northeast is one of the most sensitive regions in India where there are so many ethnic communities with different religion and cultural background,” he said.
Muan Tombing, the general secretary of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, a Kuki-Zo body, said, “We were eagerly waiting for the formation of a new government at the Centre, but so far the issues have not been addressed. We feel neglected.”
Jeetendra Ningomba, a representative of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), one of the largest Meitei civil society organisations, said that they were yet to receive any invitation from the Centre.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh informed the State Assembly on July 31 that 226 people have been killed and 39 people are missing due to the conflict so far, while 59,414 people are living in relief camps.
