Ethnic fault lines, unresolved demands and armed groups will keep peace at bay in Manipur

Home Minister Amit Shah's meeting with both Meitei and Kuki communities on Tuesday raised hope about restoring peace in Manipur, a state in turmoil for the past 27 days.

The violence may subside for the time being but the deep ethnic faultlines, unresolved demands and armed insurgent groups pushing the same may keep peace at bay in the state. Organisations belonging to both the communities, both in the Imphal Valley and in the hill districts, during their meetings with Shah on Tuesday, not only blamed each other for the recent violence but also stressed on resolving the old issues that have kept Manipur troubled for decades. The demand for and against the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the majority Meitei community and a "separate administration" for the Kuki-Hmar-Zo communities topped the list.

At least 75 people have died and over 35,000 others belonging to both the communities got displaced due to the ongoing violence.

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Observers in Manipur believe that although the ST issue triggered the recent violence on May 3, it is the long fight over land between the Meiteis and Kukis that forms the crux of conflict in Manipur. Meiteis, who constitute nearly 53 per cent of Manipur's population (30-odd lakhs), allege that Kukis are constantly trying to increase their population by encouraging "illegal migration of their ethnic brothers" from neighbouring Myanmar and thereby occupy maximum land. In fact, Manipur Assembly, in which more than half of the MLAs are Meiteis, on August 6 last year passed a private member's resolution for an NRC and constituting a Population Commission as demanded by the Meiteis. Kukis said that in the name of NRC, Meiteis are trying to brand them as refugees and illegal migrants.

"The Kuki people are the first inhabitants in the lands they occupied today and not offered by anybody out of sympathy. Refugees never dare to fight mighty people like the British but the Kukis alone fought bravely with the British during 1917 and 1919, which has been recorded by the colonial writers as Kuki Rebellion, Kuki war of Independence," Sominthang Doungel, chairman of steering committee of Kuki Inpi Manipur, an apex body of Kukis told DH.

In fact, sources said violence started on May 3 after suspected Meitei miscreants damaged a ceremonial gate of the Anglo-Kuki War, which Kukis claim is a ploy to erase a chapter of Kuki history. The tribals, Kukis and Nagas, presently live in about 90 per cent of Manipur's land.

Indigenous People's Front Manipur, an organization of Meiteis, in a letter to Shah alleged that Kuki groups are claiming half of Manipur's geography as Kuki ancestral land, something which has threatened the identity of the Meiteis. "What is happening in Manipur is a narco terrorism for creating a homeland led by Kuki insurgent groups in suspension of operation agreement funded by money generated from poppy cultivation, opium mafias and drugs smuggling."

Insurgent groups:

The fight over land and identity led to the birth of several insurgent groups, both by the Meiteis and Kukis. Manipur CM N. Biren Singh and several Meitei organisations claim the involvement of Kuki insurgent groups (in suspension of operation since 2008) in the violence but the Kukis have strongly rejected the same. They alleged that the Manipur government and police helped Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, Meitei armed groups, to attack the Kuki villages. Several strong Valley-based insurgent groups (Meitei) such as UNLF, PLA, PREPAK, KYKL, KCP, which have carried out several attacks on security forces, are still out of the peace process. The Manipur government and Meitei groups claim that Kukis are also involved in illegal poppy cultivation in the hills and smuggling of drugs. Kuki groups, however, have rejected such claims.

Naga factor:

The demand for Nagalim by Nagas, which also comprises a few districts of Manipur (Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong and Chandel) had even resulted in strong violence against the Kukis in Manipur. More than 100 Kukis in Manipur were massacred by the Nagas in 1993 and the Naga-Kuki relations have still remained strained. Meiteis are also against inclusion of Manipur lands for creation of Greater Nagalim, one of the "core demands" of the Naga insurgent group, NSCN.