One Year Later, Manipur Still Waits For Peace

The violence in Manipur began a year ago, has displaced thousands, and continues to disturb the peace in the state. On Friday, May 3, the tribal Kuki-Zo, and the majority Meitei community protested against the situation in the state at Jantar Mantar.

A year ago, Manipur witnessed intense violence between the tribal Kuki-Zo-Hmar-Zomi community and the majority Meitei community. Over 200 people were killed and thousands displaced from among both the communities. However, the situation has not improved in the state and the violence has escalated tremendously, say the locals.

On Friday, the Kuki-Zo community members wore black T-shirts and kurtas, while the Meitei wore white clothes, colours of mourning in their respective religions, and protested against the injustice and government’s lax behaviour in controlling the situation.

The Kukis protested at Jantar Mantar in the morning, while the Meitei protested in the evening.

Chanting the demand of “separate administration” the Kuki-Zo groups, who came in hundreds, said that this was the only solution for all the atrocities they have faced.

Speaking to The Citizen, Siam Phiapi, a Supreme Court lawyer, blamed the government, alleging they have not made the situation any better.

“I think at this point the government is not even attempting to control the situation, they are just letting it be. They are just giving one excuse or the other. Maybe they are hoping things will calm down on their own, but that won’t happen.

“Everyone is armed and radicalised. The hatred has been spreading for the past year. There is no easy solution to this. But the worst thing is that the government is not even trying to bring the solution to this,” he said.

The victim families who had lost their homes and loved ones had also become part of the protest. For many, it is still traumatic to remember those times one year back.

“We lost our homes, our lives and our loved ones while nothing has been done to make the situation better,” a woman at the protest said.

Meanwhile, The Citizen spoke to victims from the Meitei community who said they are still waiting for the bodies of their loved ones. It is to be noted that bodies of at least 31 Meitei and 14 Kuki-Zo have not been found.

Ibungobi Singh, father of Phijam Hemanjit Singh (20) told The Citizen that his boy along with his friend Luwangbi Linthoingambi Hijam (17) had gone missing in July 2023.

Later, pictures of the two Manipuri students went viral on social media. While one of them purportedly shows their dead bodies in gory detail, the other shows them sitting in fear, and in the background are armed men with their guns clearly visible.

“We still don’t have any details regarding the case. The CBI is saying they are investigating but it has been almost one year and we have found nothing,” he said, holding back tears.

Holding the pictures of his children and the last CCTV footage where they were seen moving towards Churachandpur, a Kuki dominated area, Singh said he still doesn’t know what to believe.

The Manipur Chief Minister’s Office confirmed that the bodies belong to a young female student, and a young male student named. Assuring action against those involved in their kidnapping and killing, the Chief Minister’s Office said that the matter is already being probed into by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in collaboration with the state agencies.

The pictures went viral on Saturday, September 23. Both students were from the Meitei community. The viral pictures on social media also show the date the photo was taken as July 8, two days after they had gone missing.

“If they are dead, at least give us the bodies. Why has the Manipur Police not done anything? They had so much evidence and yet they did nothing. The whole situation could have been stopped,” Singh added.

He along with five other families had flown from Manipur so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could hear their pleas and do something about the situation in Manipur.

“It’s a banana state right now,” Dr Devi, an activist, told The Citizen.

She added that a solution needs to be found where both parties can sit together and talk it out. Same sentiment was shared by Phaipi as well.

The situation in Manipur is still tense with regular reports of firing among both the communities. Meanwhile, thousands of people are still displaced and there is no solution in sight.

Meanwhile, the Meitei have alleged that there is infiltration of “illegal immigrants” a word used by Manipur’s Chief Minister Biren Singh against the Kuki-Zo community.

Both the communities want a solution but while Kuki-Zo wants a separate administration, the Meeitei want the ending of suspension of operation (SOO). Amidst this, there is also the issue of missing arms, piled up FIRs and the missing bodies.

Meanwhile, as Manipur went to polls on April 19 various incidents of booth capturing and shooting were reported, which was the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. The situation escalated to an extent that re-election had to be held in some constituencies of Imphal.

Incidents of firing, voter intimidation, and destruction of electronic voting machines were reported. There were also allegations of booth capturing.

On April 19, which was the first phase of voting, residents of the state turned out in large numbers to vote amid heavy security. However, some videos started showing voters in Imphal complaining that they were forced to vote for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to officials, at least six instances of groups trying to take over polling stations were reported in the state capital Imphal. “Armed mobs came and tried to take control of the polling station,” the official told the media.