Manipur: Waiting for peace in Indian state divided by violence

In India’s north-eastern state of Manipur, over 220 people have died as a result of a dangerous racial issue that has ravaged houses and claimed over 220 life. However, more than three million people live there and are also waiting for harmony.

Clashes erupted in May last year between the majority Meitei and indigenous minority Kuki groups – they were sparked by Kuki protests against demands from Meiteis to be given official tribal status, which would make them eligible for affirmative action and other benefits.

59, 000 people are still living in state comfort tents, or tens of thousands, as a result of the crime. It has splintered neighborhoods and severnned community securities.

Meiteis live in the Imphal Valley and Kukis live in the nearby hills regions, with Kukis living there as well. The two parts are separated by border boundaries and security-guarded buffer zones. Several locals have deliberately taken up arms- some stolen from equipped causes, some country-made- to safeguard their villages from intruders.

Federal and state officials have made some attempts to end the conflict by holding peace talks between the communities, but locals say it hasn’t been enough – a recent peace deal signed in a district collapsed within a day. Distrust between the two groups persists and incidents of violence, including killings of security personnel, are regularly reported.

Because people need to feel comfortable in moving forward, and there must be some resolution to the past, Manipur’s situation is still strained and full of mistrust. There has n’t been one”, says Sanjoy Hazarika, a commentator and author who specialises in India’s north-eastern states.

Both groups hold the various responsible for stoking hostility.

The Meitei community and the state government usually attribute the issue to illegal immigration, particularly from Myanmar, which borders the Meitei region. This narrative, according to the Kuki group, has been used to pin them within their own position because they share cultural ties with the Chins in Myanmar.

” The express needs a full-fledged treatment: military to stop the violence and physiologically to begin negotiations. The establishment of trust]between Kukis and Meiteis ] is crucial. Trust may be built in a day”, says Shreema Ningombam, a social scientist in Imphal, the state capital.

In Sugnu village, about 60km ( 37 miles ) from Imphal, the divide is stark.

Meiteis and Kukis previously resided there, but they later fled after the fight broke out, leaving behind burned and destroyed homes.

Despite heavy security, locals fear retaliatory attacks from “outsiders”. Meitei women groups, known as Meira Paibis, guard village entry points.

Yumlembam Manitombi, one of the soldiers, said she lost her 29-year-old boy in last year’s crime. He was the only person in the family’s care, making up the other three kids.

In their home’s yard, they have a bust of him. The cause of his death is identified by an etching below the statue, Kuki Meitei War 2023.

” I want peace. My only hope is to end this conflict, according to Ms. Manitombi, and I have nothing more to do.

In Churachandpur, the Kuki-dominated centre of the conflict, related surveillance methods exist. The access to the city features a” Wall of Remembrance” commemorating Kukis who died in the fight.

Boinu Haokip and her home escaped murder last year and are now surviving on odd jobs in Churachandpur after moving from Sugnu to Churachandpur.

Ms Haokip, who is pursuing a degree in tribal violence in Manipur, says her coming looks bleak.

” I have to research and look after my home. Our community was in hunger for decades. We were about to leave, but she claims that crime has forced us to wait at least ten years.

As schools turn into temporary camps, coming concerns also linger on others. People have lost businesses, area and work and exhausted their benefits.

Some people have also been forced to flee to nearby Mizoram for safety due to the conflict. With shortages of food, water, and medication, people rely on strange work to succeed.

Nengnei Chong, 52, fled with her two children and has been living in a comfort station outside Mizoram’s money Aizawl. She claims to regret reversing her decision to leave, though.

” It would have been better had we to died back home”, she says.

TBC Lalvenchhunga, a senator from Mizoram, claims that the condition government has limited resources.

“The government is financially struggling. If the federal government heeds our repeated requests [for more funds], we can help the refugees better,” he says.

Citizens accuse the provincial and Bharatiya Janata Party of not preventing the violence sufficiently.

Kuki parties have accused Meiteis of using violence against them to gain social advantage, which the government denies. Opposition events claim that the federal government overstayed the conflict’s onset. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been frequently criticized by the Congress party for skipping Manipur.

” Manipur’s government is making serious efforts to restore normalcy. Universities, colleges and workplaces in most sites have opened up and are functioning. The hope for peace is visible”, Mr Modi said in legislature lately.

However, according to experts, mistrust between the two communities has only grown stronger and has grown even more so. The Kukis are firmly opposed to a” individual administration,” something the Meiteis strongly oppose.

” Peace-building is a very painful and slow process. Violence is more effective than peaceful cohesion. If the centre]federal state ] is able to bring both sides to the table, it will be a step in the right direction”, Mr Hazarika says.

But he cautions that this wo n’t be a quick process.

Before you can truly advance, you need time and patience to heal.

Dilip Kumar Sharma gave input to Mizoram.