It was raining very heavily on the night of 27 April, and a storm had lashed along to make matters worse. It was also going to be the first light soon, and the sentries at that moment had just let their guards down. That was the time when Kuki militants sneaked in a commando-style attack on the headquarters of the 3rd India Reserve Battalion at Narainseina, about 40 kilometres from here. Inside the camp, which was also being shared with the CRPF, the Kuki militants opened indiscriminate fire and hurled grenades and bombs. The security forces returned the fire, but with almost zero visibility, they could not hit any of the attackers. And by the time the firing ceased, two CRPF personnel, including an officer, lay dead, and two others sustained bullet injuries.
In the now-one-year-old conflict, this was the first time that the Kukis were deliberately targeting central security forces. As a matter of fact, any of the 24 odd Kuki armed groups currently under a yet-to-be-extended suspension of operations with the Centre have fired upon a central force in the last 30 years of Kuki militants. Apart from showing their prowess and capability, it could also mean that the Kukis were sending a message to the Government of India to heed their demands for a separate administration. Apart from the attack on the CRPF, the Kukis also attacked other Meitei villages on that fateful night, but there were no casualties.
The attacks by Kuki militants continued unabated in the next two to three days; they opened fire at Koutruk and Kadangbal Village in Imphal West District. In the retaliatory fire from the Meitei, two Kukis lost their lives, including one who is the son of the chief of Bethel Kuki village in the adjoining Kangpokpi District. The normal verbal backlash from the CRPF’s top brass also came when Akhilesh Prasad Singh, the Inspector General, said that the assailants would be identified and punished accordingly. He also said that the two who died belonged to the CRPF’s 128th Battalion.
Kumbi village in Bishenpur district saw a strong standoff between women volunteers and the Assam Rifles (AR) personnel. It came following the seizure of about one dozen firearms from the Meitei Village Volunteers. The AR had earlier waylaid a vehicle carrying the village volunteers and seized the weapons, stating that they were unlicensed. The AR party was arriving at the Kumbi Police Station to deposit the seized firearms.The women then appeared on the roads and lay on the road, blocking the bullet-proof Casper vehicles ferrying the troops. The AR fired several shots in the air, but the women were not frightened. After about two hours of standoff, it was agreed that the weapons would be deposited with the SP of Bishenpur district. But the AR was made to understand what Manipuri women’s “Nari Shakti” actually looked like.
But a full year has now passed since Kuki’s war on the Meiteis began on 3 May 2023. And till now, some 200+ people have been killed on both sides. Over 60,000 people have become refugees in their home land, and a few odd thousand houses have been burned. Some 6,000 odd FIRs have been recorded in the various police stations, and some 1,00,000 lakh troops have been rushed into the state. Also, there has been a complete breakdown of the general administration. With nearly 8,000 guns floating around the state, where they have been openly carried with almost full immunity, the scene is almost akin to the post-US withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is as if the days of the guns are arriving in the state, and soon warlordism may appear on the scene.
The stage was set when the Valley went to the polls on 19 April of April. Prior to that date, a prominent leader of the Meitei militia had made a public appeal to ensure victory for the BJP candidate. His raison d’être was simple and straight: in case the BJP candidate loses, then N. Biren Singh will lose his chief ministerial position, and his going away would mean that the 6,000 odd FIR registered would be activated, and then they would have no protection. Then, as soon as the polling began at 8:00 in the morning, massive rigging began at poll stations guarded by local police forces. Firing also occurred at one or two stations, and one elderly man was injured. The Meitei Defence Forces were soon turned into the BJP Defence Force. Repolling was ordered across 11 polling stations.
There has been no reconciliatory move from either side or any efforts towards those lines from the government. I had openly suggested that a track-2 or back door approach could be initiated, as was done in 2000 with the Nagas. We had met at Shillong and Kaziranga. The Nagas were represented by prominent Naga leaders from Nagaland, including Gandhain Niketu Iralu,Wati Aier, Rev. Shishak, and other young leaders from Manipur. The Meiteis were represented by me, author and journalist Pradip Phanjoubam, Dhanabior Laishram, Arun Irengbam, and N. Biren Singh, then an editor with a vernacular daily and currently the chief minister of Manipur.
Facilitating the meeting were author Sanjoy Hazarika, Lt Gen. V.K. Naya (Retd), former Governor of Manipur, Chaman Lal, former DGP of Nagaland, and Jayant Madhab, former Chairman of the NEDFI. It was a good start, and both sides understood each other’s point of view. CM Biren, having participated in the exercise, is aware of the utility of such meetings, but he has not made a single move to initiate such an exercise. Instead, he has been playing his cards close to his chest with a view towards retaining his chair, it seems.
But on this first anniversary, many of the Meiteis who have fled their homes in Moreh and Churachandpur and have taken refuge here have been asking to be permitted to return to their original place. But at Churachandpur, where about 8,000 Meiteis had earlier resided, their houses have been bulldozed and razed. There are no houses left for the Meiteis left in Churachandpur. Likewise, the Kukis, which have not been burned in Imphal, are now being occupied by Maetie families who have fled from Churachandpur or Moreh under the supervision of the Meitei Militia. So there is a physical impossibility of both sides reconciling and returning to their homes.
The government should take action to secure Moreh, as it is the inlet for consumer and agricultural produce from Myanmar to Manipur. And it is the outlet for India’s Look and Act East Policy, with the Asian Highway passing through it. The Imphal-Dimapur Highway is still out of bounds for Meitei, sans the vehicles being stopped by armed Kukis manning checkposts near Kangpokpi, and the identities of the passengers are checked individually. Also, some of them blew up a bridge on the highway recently, making movement difficult.
The post-election scenario has dampened the spirit of the average Meitei and appears to make them less enthusiastic about helping the village defenders. But the cake goes to chief minister Biren Singh, for he acknowledged that a few thousand Meitei youths are now roaming around with automatic weapons in their hands. He said that although they are armed, they are not anti-nationals but have only started weidling arms to protect themselves and their villages. He did not find it necessary to delve into tricky questions like the role of the state in guaranteeing the right to life of the citizens. Three cheers for democracy!
The writer is a senior journalist at The Statesman