“It’s Not About Finding Someone To Blame”

In the midst of the violence in Manipur, the Kuki-Zo Women’s Forum organised a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar on Friday. The women’s group called for the adoption of separate administration as the only solution towards restoring peace and order in Manipur.

The recent incident of sexual violence against Kuki women has served as a catalyst for this protest. The protestors held signs bearing messages such as “women’s bodies are not our battlefield” and “The blood of our sisters and mothers stain the valley, we cannot go back”.

A unified front of Kuki, Zomi, Mizo, and Hmar men and women came together to voice their opinion on the urgent need for a separate administration, holding placards and banners emblazoned with messages in support of the same.

“It’s not about finding someone to blame”, Co-convener Nu Jacinta Simte told The Citizen, “I am not concerned with who did the attack, or who caused the unrest as that is for the government to find out. It is about why such a peace-loving community is turning against each other. As the situation unfolds, the number of the displaced increases, places of worship are attacked, the violence will continue to grow.”

Asked why the protest was in support of a separate administration, Simte said, “They already separated us. We Kuki-Zo tribal people never asked for it. Geographically and demographically, we have been chased out. For maintaining peace, the Kuki-Zo people are capable enough of administering their own issues and governing their own people”.

Meiteis make up around 53% of Manipur's population and predominantly inhabit the Imphal Valley, while tribals, including Nagas and Kukis, form 40% of the population and primarily reside in the hill districts.

Co-Convener Nu Hoinu Touthang added by stating that “the separation between us already exists in every possible way, including mentally. We only demand a separate administration.”

Protestors held signs stating ‘Tribal Lives Matter’ and ‘Imphal is the capital of death’. Touthang explained that “In Imphal, where the Meiteis are in majority, schools, hospitals and colleges have largely been used as refugee camps. When houses are burned down, when everything is burned down, where do we go? In the hills where we live, there is no road, no electricity, no infrastructure as compared to the valley”.

The protest entailed speeches by the organisers and community leaders, as well as songs of hope sung both in English and Kuki-Mizo. The protestors, a large number of who comprised Kuki-Zo university students, enthusiastically participated by singing, chanting and holding slogans.

The Citizen reached out to a number of individuals from the Kuki and Meitei communities asking them who they hold responsible for the situation in Manipur, and what is the solution.

“We tribals are innocent. Separate administration is the only solution. Meitei live in the valley and we live in the hills, there is geographic difference and that is for a reason. There has been too much violence against us, especially on the women.

“I can’t even meet my family in Manipur anymore. The airport is in Imphal, and if I go to Imphal they will kill me,” Them Touthang Turboi, who works as a Masseuse told The Citizen.

“My personal view is that the present government both at state and Centre are to be held accountable for this unrest. Political masters need to come forward and sincerely work to solve the issue. The NRC can be a solution,” Sarita Devi, who works as a Senior Manager at a private company, told the Citizen.

“Since I saw the videos of those Kuki women, I haven’t been able to sleep at night without having my mother on a call. These men can’t just do whatever they feel like because they think the land belongs only to them.

“We are so scared, even in Delhi because the Meiteis live here too and community conflicts might happen. I understand communities fighting between each other, but why take it out on the women, the weakest targets?”, Elena (name changed), a young woman working as an assistant at a boutique told The Citizen.

Pointing to a jagged scar on her shoulder, she said “I have been having these flashbacks lately. Of the time when I was kidnapped as a child in Manipur and accidentally got stabbed because I was moving too much. Why do they always do this to women and children? I wish the government could protect them”.

She told The Citizen she suffers from recurrent anxiety as a result of the trauma she faced as a child, and recent events have exacerbated it.

“I will blame the leaders of both the Kuki and Meitei organisations for not taking care of the misinformation that led to the entire situation, the state media for not reporting the facts on time that could have stopped it and the Centre for turning a blind eye despite 140 deaths until a horrific video came into the public eye.

“I believe an open discussion involving all parties, Meiteis, Kukis, Nagas, state government, Centre, will ensure that the communication is lucid and there is free dialogue,” Saiprem T, who works as a Social Media Marketer, told The Citizen.

He added that “the separate statehood that Kukis are demanding shouldn't be granted because Manipur as a state itself is already a tiny one, once you grant statehood to one tribe, then others will demand separate administration too.

lso, Kukis have a stronghold on the opium and poppy cartel internationally through the Myanmar side which will only ensure a freeway of drugs to and from India”.

Photos: NIKITA JAIN