This story first appeared in The Indian Express
Political discourse in the state often skims the surface of deep faultlines. It takes the form of ‘them versus us’ binary with the Meiteis blaming the Kuki-Zos of being illegal migrants
On May 3 last year, violence erupted in Manipur. Churches and homes of the Kuki-Zo people in Imphal were targeted. In the weeks that followed, people had to flee, leaving behind cherished memories and losing a part of themselves — as well as papers that are proof of their identity. Neighbours and colleagues began to see each other as enemies. What had gone so wrong that people who had lived and worked together for years were now up in arms against each other?
As the Japanese novelist Shusaku Endo has written, “Atrocity doesn’t just come out of evil. It emerges from self-interest, timidity and the desire for status”. His novel, Silence, written during the period when Christians were persecuted in Japan is a heart-wrenching account of people deluding themselves into committing atrocities. Social factors strain relations between people. But Endo also tries to find elements of humanity in the perpetrators of violence. He seeks it in their confusion, self-justification and the willingness to lie to themselves.
The communities in Manipur — the Meiteis, Kuki-Zos and Nagas — are Tibeto-Burmans, believed to have migrated from the northwestern frontiers of China. They first settled in present-day Myanmar before migrating to what is today Manipur. This history is, however, contested — the Meiteis claim to be indigenous to Manipur and regard the Kuki-Zos as interlopers. The Nagas of Manipur claim to be indigenous to the state’s hill regions. Landholding patterns, much of which are a product of colonial rule, add to the state’s complexity — the tribal communities are spread over the hill areas, while the Meteis are concentrated in Imphal Valley.
Political discourse in the state often skims the surface of deep faultlines. It takes the form of an “them versus us” binary with the Meiteis blaming the Kuki-Zos of being illegal migrants and poppy growers, responsible for the drug abuse amongst a large section of Manipur’s youth. The hill tribes accuse successive state governments of forcing them to the margins of development. For instance, healthcare and education facilities are scarce in Kangpokpi, a hill district scarred by recurring violence in recent times. Churachandpur, with a 90 per cent tribal population, fares no better.
The scale of violence has come down in the past eight months. But regular incidents of brutality underline that much more needs to be done. More than 200 people have lost their lives, heinous crimes have been committed against women, more than 250 churches have been burnt and a large number of Kuki-Zo families are living in relief camps. Meiteis in the hill districts have also lost their homes and many people of the community are in refugee camps in Imphal. Rapprochement seems difficult because both parties feel wronged. The Meiteis feel they have a right to ST status. The Kuki-Zo feel that would reduce their employment opportunities. In February, a bench of the Manipur High Court modified its last year’s instruction to the state government to consider the inclusion of Meiteis in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
The state’s poor economic status adds to people’s anxieties — after UP and Bihar, Manipur has the third lowest per capita income in the country. Urban poverty is the highest in the state. Economic anxieties often manifest in animosity between communities. A section of the Meiteis feel that the Biren Singh government must do more to prevent illegal migrants.
Manipur needs a calming hand. It needs a leadership that can bring Meiteis and the Kuki-Zos to the talking table. But a year has passed and there are no visible signs of peace-building. The warring communities have not met, even at common platforms outside Manipur. Even the best-known human rights activists from Imphal seem to have gone incommunicado. Chief Minister Biren Singh, a Meitei, has rarely given the assurance that he is above the state’s identity politics. He has continued to stoke anxieties by playing up divisions in the state and referring to the drug problem as a creation of outsiders. In a post on the microblogging site X on April 29, he spoke of the “unnatural” growth of 996 villages due to illegal migration and described it as “a threat to indigenous people and national security”. Are these figures backed by research?
Meanwhile, the Kuki-Zo people are confronted by serious existential questions: Is it safe for them to return to their workplaces in Imphal — Manipur University, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMs) and other state government establishments? Can they use the Imphal airport to travel outside the state? It seems many have to take a circuitous route through Nagaland or Mizoram making the journey arduous and expensive.
The missing weapons, seized from armouries in the first weeks of the conflict, continue to be a problem. In February, the police recovered a huge cache of arms and explosives at two villages in Churachandpur district. On Tuesday, the army’s attempt to take away arms and ammunition was thwarted by protestors in Bishnupur district. The resistance from people is a sign of the limitations of a top-down security-centred approach.
The Kuki-Zos have lived with the hope of a healing touch from the Centre. They have lived with the false hope that the BJP leadership will nudge Biren Singh to action. But they now seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that the Centre will not upset his applecart. Polls in several parts of the state have been marred by violence. Would the Centre have kept silent had an Opposition-ruled state seen so much turmoil?
There are even more important questions: Can the people of Manipur, especially the hill tribes, be left to fight their own battle? Will the young generations of Kuki Zos and Meiteis grow up embittered? Today, there’s a mix of shock, pain, anger and fear. Above all, there is the reality of being abandoned.