Manipur: Still a long way to peace

Koijam Govind and Jemnu Khongsai may be divided by ethnicity, but they are united by a tragedy. The flames of the ethnic strife that engulfed Manipur since May 2023 rendered both Govind, a Meitei teacher, and Jemnu, a Kuki housewife, homeless. Govind had to flee with his family from Kuki-dominated Moreh to Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley. Jemnu, on the other hand, had to flee Imphal to Kuki-dominated Churachandpur with her husband and three children,  

The President's Rule, which was promulgated on February 13 this year, gave more than 60,000 displaced Meiteis and Kukis hope for peace and safe return to their homesteads. Nearly three months have passed, but the government's inability to find a solution to the conflict has rather added to the desperation of the displaced persons living across the Valley and the Kuki-dominated hills in Manipur.

"How long will we wait like this?" asks Govind, who now sells vegetables on the streets of Imphal. “When will we go back to our normal life?” echoes Jemnu.

Elusive peace formula

With the Meitei and the Kuki groups remaining firm on their demands, a peace formula to end the two-year-long conflict remains elusive. On April 5, several groups representing the two communities sat together for the first time in New Delhi in a meeting mediated by officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs. But the Kuki organisations refused to sign a set of proposals towards cessation of conflict, insisting on a discussion on their demand for a "separate administration” first.

The officials say that the talks with both communities are still on. But life in Manipur has not yet returned to what it was two years back. The valley and the hills have remained out of bounds for the Kukis and the Meiteis, respectively, with the central forces still manning the "buffer zones" in between. The passenger vehicles from the valley and the Kuki-dominated hill districts have not been allowed to cross the buffer zones, while the Kukis are still travelling to Aizawl in neighbouring Mizoram and Dimapur in Nagaland (400 km away) to catch a flight or for better treatment. Imphal is barely 100 km away from Churachandpur. Meanwhile, prices of essentials are still high, and incidents of extortion, too, have increased, particularly in the valley.

Blame on the Centre:

"People of Manipur expected a solution after the President's Rule was imposed. But that hope is fading," said Khuraijam Athouba, a leader of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an influential forum of several Meitei organisations, which skipped the meeting on April 5 in New Delhi. The group demands action against "Chin Kuki terrorists" having bases in Myanmar before engaging in talks.

"The Centre is not taking the terrorists from Myanmar killing the innocent civilians in the Northeast as seriously as it was acting against those from Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited Manipur in the past two years. This deepens the sense of alienation,” said Athouba.

The COCOMI is organising a "People's convention" on Saturday, to mark two years of the conflict and to adopt resolutions on how to end it. The Kuki organisations will also pay homage to the victims of the community.

Sominthang Doungel, a leader of Kuki Inpi Manipur, told DH that the ‘root cause’ – contested land rights – has remained unaddressed. "A land boundary commission with fair representation from all parties – Kukis, Meiteis, and Nagas – could have offered a viable solution long ago. It's time for decisive action to resolve this decades-long dispute."

An official in a central security agency told DH that the situation on the ground has remained on a "status quo," and may flare up if a solution is not found by the government.

As a solution remains elusive, displaced people, like Govind and Jemnu, continue to struggle for their lives and livelihoods.