Manipur Violence An ongoing cultural genocide of the Indigenous Hindu-majority Meiteis

Manipur Violence: An ongoing cultural genocide of the Indigenous Hindu-majority Meiteis

In Current Affairs
05:32 PM, Jun 16, 2024
Vladimir Adityanaath

The so-called “Manipur Violence” has been raging since April 27, 2023. This ongoing human tragedy has been defined as a proxy war or an ethnic clash. Such terms dilute the severity of this ongoing violence and fail to explain its long-term consequences. A systemic cultural genocide of the Hindu-majority Indigenous Meiteis, Gorkhas, Biharis and Bengalis has been going on for over 400 days, with very little national media coverage. Most of the politicians in the ruling party are attempting to sweep this issue under the carpet. The opposition parties have mostly focused on using the sufferings of victims to gain political mileage.

Heavily armed Kuki terrorists have been launching large-scale terror attacks in the Jiribam district since June 7. The Moirangpurel village of Imphal East District was attacked by “suspected Kuki terrorists” on 11^th June [1]. “Suspected Kuki miscreants” had burnt down the newly constructed Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Minou village of Tengnoupal District on June 13 [2].

The ongoing multi-faceted crisis has at least 5 distinct phases.

Prelude: The current violence started as a final blow to finish off the non-Christian indigenous population from the Kuki-dominated Chura Chandpur, Tengnoupal and Kangpokpi Districts. The Hindu population of Manipur has declined rapidly since 1991 due to discrimination, government apathy, an extremely active conversion racket and near monopoly of the Church in the education and healthcare sectors. The Church has been spreading hateful narratives against the non-Christian population of Manipur since the 1960s.

The non-Christian population in places like Chura Chandpur has faced horrible discrimination since the 1990s. The local Meitei population there could neither buy any land nor do they have any electoral representation, thanks to horribly biased legislations like Article 371C, Manipur Land Reforms Act (1960) and The District Councils Act (1971). They were not allowed to exercise their voting rights in Chura Chandpur, Kangpokpi and parts of Tengnoupal districts for 30-40 years [3] [4]. They were not allowed to own profitable businesses like Hardware Stores. They had to get permission to celebrate their festivals which were frequently denied. Even in secular-sounding schools like the foreign-funded Young Learners, their children were forced to learn ‘The Bible’. Schools like Ebenezer Academy, Salt Brooke School, Rayban School and College had horribly discriminated against non-Christian children, belittling and mocking their culture and religious beliefs. Called as “devil-worshippers” they frequently faced harassment and mental torture from their fellow students in these educational institutions.

Local Kuki-Zo people had always attempted to hijack or claim the Meitei holy sites as their ancestral lands. They had molested two young women going for pooja at the Thangjing Hills in 2010 [5]. Pilgrims were repeatedly harassed and told to leave. Devotees going on pilgrimage to Mount Koubru in Kangpokpi district were harassed in 2021, leading to a major scuffle. Local “Kuki-Zo” armed miscreants had fired upon people celebrating Thabl Chongba (Moonlight Dance) festival in 2022, causing great panic and a near stampede [6]. Under such repression and burderned by illegal taxes imposed on them, the Hindu population of Chura Chandpur had fallen to around 4.3% by 2011.

The cosmopolitan town of Moreh was home to a sizeable population of Meiteis, Nagas, Bengalis, Tamilians, Biharis, Malayalis and Gorkhas. The process of transforming this vibrant multicultural border town into a stronghold of “Chin-Kuki” terrorists and Burmese illegal immigrants started in 1992 with the Kuki-Naga Clashes. The Naga population of Moreh had fallen from around 12,000 in 1992 to just a few hundred by 1995. After this clash, the Kukis had adopted a policy of isolating and driving out each community one at a time.

The Tamil population of Moreh was repeatedly harassed by heavily armed Kuki terrorists, who started to ruthlessly extort, loot and pick fights with them. The murder of a 7 year-old child of a Tamil businessman had triggered the infamous Kuki-Tamil clashes of 1995. These clashes had claimed the lives of 9 people. Over 10,000 Tamilians were displaced from Moreh. Tamil houses and shops were looted and destroyed. Irate Kuki mobs had attacked and defiled the Angala-Parameshwari temple. The Marwari, Bengali, Bihari and Malayalis were targeted next. Stiff taxes were imposed on them. They also had to deal with regular harassment and humiliation. Most of these residents were forced to leave Moreh by the early 2000s. Bharatiya citizens are still being forced to pay extortion money to Kuki terrorists, most of whom are foreigners.

Angala Parameshwari Mandir, More

The same modus operandi was followed to target the local Meitei population. The Kuki population in Moreh had reached around the halfway mark by the mid 2000s. The Kuki-Meitei clashes of 2007 were triggered when a Meitei woman shopkeeper had stood up to some Kuki Terrorists attempting to loot from her shops. 11 Meiteis were killed and several shops and houses belonging to Meiteis were burnt. Kuki community leaders had used the Meitei demand for Inner Line Permit (ILP) to launch another major attack on the local Meitei population in 2015. Even women and children were violently attacked. According to local trader N. Konjembam Singh, Meitei women were subjected to frequent harassment and eve teasing by Kukis. They also attempted to convert non-Christians by offering protection from persecution to Christians. The Meitei population of Moreh had fallen below 25% by 2021 [7] [6] [4].

This relentless attempt to drive out “non-Kuki-Chin-Mizo” language speakers is the first step towards creating an independent Kuki nation including parts of Bharat, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Kuki demand for a separate state was first raised in 1960 [8]. PS Haokip had formally documented the nature of an independent Kuki nation in his book “Zalengam”. He clearly mentions this nation as a “lebensraum” for “Kuki-Chin-Mizo” language speakers where they can freely worship Christ. Many of the “Kuki-Chin-Mizo” language speaking community leaders, intellectuals and politicians like Mark Haokip and Mafeli Hlwando have indicated that this nation for Christ shall neither coexist with nor respect the religious freedom and human rights of non-Christians [9].

“Kuki-Chin-Mizo” language speaking janajaatis have orchestrated 10 large-scale attacks on native non-Christian janajaatis in Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram since 1990. Most of these attacks involved indiscriminate rape torture, murder and arson. Religious sites were methodically targeted or destroyed during these coordinated attacks. The wonderful sculpture of Mahadev in the Shibraikhong Hills of Tripura was destroyed and a church-like structure was constructed. In a cruel gesture of mockery, they named this 930m high peak as Bethlinshiv in 2003 [10]. The number of people displaced as a consequence of these pre-planned attacks exceeds 1,50,000 (including the ongoing Manipur Violence).

Initial mob-violence phase (27^th April – 8^th May 2023): The violence started with a furious mob torching a multi-speciality sports complex to protest against the arrival of CM Biren Singh in Chura Chandpur. A large mob had gathered around the Old Bazaar area of Chura Chandpur Town, pelting stones at security personnel and smashing all strategically located CCTV cameras. Security personnel had to use tear gas to bring the situation under control. They also managed to arrest several rioters.

Paolienlal Haokip, the MLA of Saikot had freed them on bail within hours. “Kuki miscreants” had desecrated a temple and dishonoured the ‘Flag of the 7 clans’ of the Meitei on April 29. Few foreign media houses were already present in Chura Chandpur. The local MLA L.M. Khaute had left Chura Chandpur before May 3. A significant number of Kuki government employees were on vacation during this period. An army of troll and bot accounts were readied for narrative warfare. Nine forest department offices were burnt down on May 3 morning. Most of these offices contained government records of illegal immigrants. The mobs had destroyed all these records [11].

At least 20,000 people were displaced from the Chura Chandpur, Tengnoupal, Kangpokpi and Imphal East districts by May 5. Heavily armed Kuki mobs had burnt down several villages in the Bishnupur district of Imphal Valley on May 3. More than 90% of the subsequent violence would take place in the peripheral regions of Imphal Valley, invalidating the claim that the Kukis are only interested in protecting their claimed lands.

Large-scale military operations and terrorist attacks (11 May -Late June 2023): This phase was characterised by large-scale military operations and gunbattle, along with terrorist attacks. A large number of combat veterans had infiltrated the highly porous Indo-Myanmar international border to support their communities. Heavily armed Kuki Terrorists had attacked the Imphal Valley from 3 directions, attempting to capture 13 strategically located villages. The villages of Serou and Sugnu were under siege for over a week. Ibetombi Debi, the 80 year old wife of freedom fighter S. ChuraChand was burnt alive [12].

It would be wrong to call this conflict a mere Kuki-Meitei ethnic clash. The minority Gorkha population of Manipur were extorted heavily and their herds were driven away by Kuki terrorists. Many of the persecuted Gorkhas were forced to leave their homes in Kakching, Imphal East, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal Districts [13]. 58 year old Gorkha R. Paude was burnt alive in Serou on May 28. Houses of Bengalis like Ador Das were burned. The remaining Bengali, Tamil and Bihari populations of Moreh are being bullied and heavily extorted [6]. This conflict goes beyond ethnic boundaries and cannot be termed as a simple ethnic clash.

Near-Static Frontlines around the peripheral regions of Imphal Valley with regular small-scale terrorist attacks (July 2023 to June 2024): The abandoned properties, temples and sacred shrines were reduced to dust. 395 temples, sacred shrines and religious sites were destroyed or desecrated by Kuki mobs [14]. Protected sites of cultural and religious importance like Koubru and Thangjing have been repeatedly desecrated. The Kukis have renamed all the areas from where the Meiteis, Gorkhas and other Hindus were driven out, claiming them to be a part of their ancestral property. They have also propagated fabricated history to “justify” their actions. Every single site, structure or statue of cultural importance has been destroyed. Maharaja Nara Singh’s statue in Moreh was burnt down and Maharaja Chandrakirti’s Memorial in Chura Chandpur was destroyed.

The Kuki leadership had prioritised the blocking of NH2 and NH 37. These two highways are the lifeline for nearly 18 lakh residents of Imphal Valley. The Government has always removed any attempted blockages to the supply line to Kashmir Valley within hours. The blockade of essential goods, brutal extortion and terrorist attacks on truck drivers attempting to bring essentials to Imphal Valley have continued unchecked [15] [16]. Such blockades have caused shortages and steep price hikes, exacerbating the sufferings of nearly 18 lakh people.

Large Scale Terror Attacks on Jiribam along with sporadic small-scale attacks elsewhere (7^th June 2024 onwards): The NH2 and the newly constructed railway towards Imphal passes through the Jiribam district located at the Assam-Manipur border. Kuki terrorists have launched large-scale attacks on the local Meitei population. 77 houses belonging to Meiteis were burnt and over 2000 people had been displaced by 12 June. These attacks are an attempt to capture this critical communications hub, which connects Manipur with the rest of Bharat.

It is shocking to see the apathy and neglect of the Bharatiya government towards the sufferings of the Hindu-majority Meiteis, Gorkhas and other affected communities of Manipur. None of the victims have received the announced compensation yet. No large-scale military operations have been done against the Kuki terrorist groups and their sympathisers. They are still controlling Moreh, the gateway of our ‘Act-East’ policy. Confined to around 6% liveable land, the rising land prices would soon force a large number of people to leave Manipur. Can the destruction a 3000 -year-old culture and the displacement of the last Hindus of our Far East be allowed? Can geopolitical concerns and international interference be an excuse for such inaction? These are questions we all must answer.

References:

All the images are provided by the author.

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Vladimir Adityanaath

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