Manipur Violence

A seven-year-old boy, his mother and a female neighbour were killed in Imphal West’s Iroisemba area on Sunday (June 4) evening, while the young boy was being taken to hospital after being hit by a bullet splinter at the Assam Rifles camp where his family was staying. 

https://thewire.in/security/manipur-7-yr-old-boy-his-mother-and-neighbour-killed-as-mob-sets-ambulance-on-fire 

A mob set the ambulance carrying the child and his caretakers on fire, and all three of them burnt to death, The Indian Express reported. “All we could recover were some bones from inside the vehicle,” the newspaper quoted a senior police officer as saying. An FIR including sections related to murder was filed that night.

According to Scroll, seven-year-old Tongsing Hangsing and his family had moved into the Assam Rifles camp just a day before that. On Sunday, there was firing between Kuki and Meitei villages that are on either side of the camp, an officer told the publication. A bullet splinter from this firing hit Tongsing on the head, and another hit his mother’s hand.

While oxygen was administered to the child at the camp, he was critical and needed to be taken to hospital. Tongsing is the son of a Kuki father and Meitei mother. Given that the nearest hospital in Imphal was in a Meitei area, the decision was made that the child should be accompanied by his mother, Meena Hangsing, and another Meitei neighbour, Lydia Lourembam, Scroll reported.

The Assam Rifles personnel accompanied the ambulance and police convoy for as long as they could, before being stopped ‘Meira Paibis’ – a powerful vigilante group of Meitei women. The ambulance then continued under police protection. However, a rumour was spread “Kuki militants” were being evacuated, Scroll reported, and the convoy was attacked. A mob burnt down the convoy with the child, his mother and neighbour still inside.

“When we reached Iroisemba, we were stopped by a mob and totally surrounded. The driver and I were pulled out of the vehicle and taken to a club nearby. The police were outnumbered. They did not fire to disperse the crowd. It was around 6.30 pm. We were kept at a club for about two hours,” a male nurse in the convoy told The Indian Express.

Violence continues in the state after ethnic tensions first escalated on May 3. Firing between alleged ‘insurgents’ and security forces led to the death of a Border Security Force jawan on the night between June 5 and 6. Two soldiers of the Assam Rifles were also injured.

According to The Hindu, additional troops have been deployed in the state over the last 48 hours.

07/06/2023

How the violence began https://scroll.in/article/1050361/armed-gangs-and-a-partisan-state-how-manipur-slipped-into-civil-war 

By all accounts, the immediate trigger for the violence that has convulsed Manipur for weeks now was an act of arson in the hill district of Churachandpur on May 3: a purported attempt to burn the Anglo-Kuki war centenary gate that commemorates the Kuki rebellion against British colonists in 1917-’19.

The damage to the structure was minimal but given its symbolic value, thousands of Kukis descended at the spot. The mobilisation was instant for good reason. Thousands of tribal people had already congregated at a place only a few kilometres away for a separate protest against an order of the Manipur High Court directing the state government to consider granting the Meitei community Scheduled Tribe status. Tribal groups feared it would further entrench the dominance of Meiteis in the state.

Things escalated soon. In no time, mobs took over large parts of the state: Kukis in the hill districts dominated by the community, and Meiteis in the Imphal valley. Both sides insist that they acted only in retaliation and did not initiate violence.

by Arunabh Saikia

06/06/2023

 A month into the ethnic violence in Manipur and growing distrust between Meitei and Kuki communities, vigilante groups have reportedly become more active in the state.

https://thewire.in/rights/manipur-rise-in-vigilante-groups-due-to-ethnic-conflict-petition-in-sc-against-internet-shutdown  

According to Economic Times, of the groups that has gained momentum is Meira Paibi (Female Torchbearers) in the Manipur valley. In the past, this group has organised agitations crimes against women, AFSPA and human rights violations.

Nearly 100 people have lost their lives in the violence that began on May 3. Tensions escalated in the state after differences over the majority Meitei community’s demands for ST status. The hill tribes believe this will impinge on their rights and access to opportunities.

05/06/2023