Thousands flee to Assam as fresh violence erupts in Manipur
A school building at T Motha near Moreh, a border town of Manipur, was set ablaze by unknown assailants on Wednesday, while abandoned houses and shops were set on fire in Kalinagar, Jiribam district, as the northeastern state witnessed fresh violence since 6 June.
Soon after the Lok Sabha election results came out, Manipur, which is already tensed, witnessed another surge of violence in its Jiribam District and now Moreh, when reports of housed being burnt came forward.
On 6 June, videos of a church and some houses in the town of Jiribam were shared on social media. A mixture of Hmar, Mizo, Kuki and a few Meitei population, the district had surprisingly not seen any intense violence on May 3 last year or thereafter.
The violence started on 6 June, two days after the main opposition Indian National Congress party won both the Inner and Outer Manipur seats, beating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Manipur, the dead body of 59-year-old Soibam Saratkumar Singh, a Meitei, was found by the locals after he had been missing for more than a week.
The Meiteis alleged that Kuki-Zo tribals were behind the murder. Kuki-Zo leaders have denied their involvement, blaming the killing on rival Meitei armed groups instead.
Speaking to Maktoob, local resident of Jiribam, John Houpu (name changed due to safety concerns), who has now left his home at Jiribam town and is now staying in his village located 6 kilometres from the place of violence said that they have been hearing rumours about “Meitei militants being involved in the killing.”
He said the violence started in the evening.
“The situation is very tense right now and the town is a ghost town. There is no one left and the place is being guarded by Assam Rifles,” he said.
However, the tensions, in Jiribam, were already brewing since May after the decomposed body of Seigoulen Singson, a 21-year-old from the Kuki-Zo community, was discovered weeks earlier. Singson had been missing since 14 May.
Houpu, said that no violence happened when Singson’s body was missing as they were waiting for the reports. “Since his death, we have heard nothing from the investigation agencies,” he added.
He further said that last when violence started in Impahl and spread throughout local MLAs and authorities came together to maintain peace. “A few houses were burnt after which a peace committee was created so that no violence takes place here,” he added.
“We are very scared as the situation is uncertain and we do not see it getting any better,” Houpu sighed.
According to a statement by a Kuki-Zo group, the burning of Lamtai Khunou and two other Meitei villages was termed as “retribution against Arambai Tenggol who initiated these violent acts”.
“The tribals will no longer remain silent in the face of aggression,” it said.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people in Jiribam, belonging to both Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities have been displaced.
The Kuki-Zo was evacuated to Assam by the army, and all the Meitei from the periphery areas were relocated to a relief camp.
A church and few house belonging to the Hmar-Mizo and Kuki community were burnt down.
Meanwhile, Moreh, which shares borders with Myanmar, is also one of the largest commercial hubs of Manipur, which has been shut down since the outbreak of violence that erupted from Churachandpur district on 3 May, 2023.
Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee (ITAF), a tribal organisation advocating for tribal rights in Jibiram on Thursday condemned the attacks on houses and shops in Jiribam and demanded “immediate arrest” of perpetrators of June 6 incident.
“ITAC urges the competent authorities to immediately arrange a 24-hour vigil and patrolling by the Central Security Forces in and around localities inhabited by in indigenous communities of Hmar, Kuki and Zomi in Jiribam to prevent further destructions,” they said in a statement.
Manipur’s Bharatiya Janata Party run Biren Singh government has been blamed for not being able to handle the situation in the state since the violence started. People from both the communities have alleged that the inability of the state police is also one of the reasons for the inadequate action.
Singh’s government has also been blamed for being bias towards one community and demeaning the other community by calling them illegal immigrants from Myanmar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has also been criticised for not doing much to handle the situation. “We are disappointed with all the governments and even the security forces for not handling the situation well. Till when will Manipur burn,” said Rajesh, a resident of Imphal.
While section 144 has been imposed in Jiribam district, reports of regular violence is being reported from the state.
