Six months on, Manipur’s hopes for reconciliation are still bleak

In the Manipur hill districts on May 3, a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was held in opposition to the Meitei community’s desire for Scheduled Tribe (ST) designation. Although there had been isolated violent episodes in the months before, what happened next was unheard of.

Six months have passed since chaos erupted in the northeastern state of Manipur. As homes burned, cars and public property were vandalized, women were abused, protestors were struck with batons, and rebels engaged in gunfights with police-stolen weapons and ammo, flames shot upwards. The violence that is still going on has claimed the lives of almost 180 individuals. Even if things were better for a few days, there hasn’t been any peace in Manipur since May.

Due to human rights violations, the disturbance first came to the attention of the world in July when a horrifying video of two Kuki women being paraded nude by a crowd after their torture and rape went viral on social media. However, the BJP-led Union government has shown almost any urgency for a solution, remaining eerily mute on the matter.

The condition of affairs became even more dire in September when the Manipur administration decided to implement the contentious AFSPA across the whole state, with the exception of places under the jurisdiction of 19 police stations, most of which are situated in the Imphal Valley or other Meitei-dominated districts. In volatile Manipur, the designation of “disturbed areas” took effect on October 1.

The impending state Assembly elections have been impacted by the violence as well. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stressed that the Manipur violence had “not been done by any political party” while campaigning in the poll-bound state of Mizoram. “In the last nine years, the Northeast has been very peaceful,” he said.

However, the ethnic conflicts in Manipur date back far further than six months. Conflicts between the Kuki-Zo hill tribes, who live in the hill regions, and the Meiteis, who control the Imphal Valley and make up 53% of the state’s population, have replaced what was formerly a battle between the Naga and Kuki tribes.

The capital city of Imphal saw violence earlier this week when security personnel opened fire to scatter a group of more than 2,000 people who had tried to loot an armory inside the grounds of the 1 Manipur Rifles camp, which is situated in the Imphal West district near the Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister’s Office.

Markets remained closed as the district administration withdrew its order to ease the curfew. At important intersections, more state and federal soldiers were stationed, and police officers were seen policing the area close to the Manipur Rifles camp.

With the caveat that it “does not apply to any gathering or large-scale movement of persons or sit in protests or rallies,” the relaxation was once again declared on Thursday. The recent unrest was precipitated by the shooting death of a deputy superintendent of police (SDPO) in Moreh town, who was a member of the majority population. The SDPO was shot by tribal militants.

The citizens’ faces are marked with dread and suspicion, and the physical and emotional barriers between the two communities are growing without a clear solution in sight. In light of this, Outlook examines the last six months of the Manipur crisis and the years of preceding events in further detail.