Imphal/Guwahati:

A civil society group of the Kuki tribes in Manipur has asked the Assam Rifles and the police for help after unknown armed people broke into the house of one of its key members and attacked his family in the hill district Churachandpur.

Another civil society group chief was kidnapped and tortured before he was released. Shots were also fired at the home of Singngat MLA Chinlunthang in the same district.

In the first incident, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) in a statement said some armed people came looking for ITLF secretary Muan Tombing at his house, and when they could not find him, they “kicked doors, dragged his wife across the floor, and snatched his daughter’s phone”.

“Luckily, he wasn’t in the house at the time, yet one can only imagine what the armed miscreants would to him if he were,” said the Kuki body formed in June 2022 which has been leading the call for a separate administration carved out of Manipur.

In the second incident, the ITLF said some armed people also kidnapped the chief of the Young Paite Association in Kanaan village, and released him “after extensive interrogation and being severely tortured”.

In the third incident, the ITLF said some armed people suspected to be a part of the same group from the incidents earlier “opened fire on the home of Singngat MLA Chinlunthang… Around the same time, shots were heard close to [the house of] Henlianthang… who is the president of the Vaiphei People’s Council.”

The ITLF said the armed people and those who are supporting them do not want peace. “It is clear that they wish to sabotage our unity in the face of our common enemy,” the ITLF said.

“Before things get out of hand, we implore law enforcement agencies such as the Assam Rifles and the police to take action and take necessary precautions on account of the armed miscreants’ continual harassment of the residents of the town,” the ITLF said.

The ITLF’s demand for a separate administration carved out of Manipur is supported by two other Kuki groups – the Kuki Inpi, and the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU).

The ethnic violence that began in May 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administrative carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/Guwahati:

A Kuki-Zo civil society organisation that is spearheading the call for a separate administration carved out of Manipur has asked members of their tribes not to give their licenced guns to police stations for safe-keeping ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, citing safety concerns amid the ethnic tensions with the valley-majority Meiteis.

District magistrates in Manipur and other states had issued orders informing the public to hand over their licenced guns to the police, to be returned after the polls, following the Election Commission’s model code, and to ensure compliance with the Representation of the People Act which bans civilians from carrying guns in and around polling booths.

The Kuki-Zo group Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) in a statement said licenced guns submitted last year have not been returned yet. “We need every available weapon to defend our ‘right to life’ and our land…” the ITLF said in the statement signed by its chairman Pagin Haokip, and secretary Muan Tombing.

“The state government’s attempt to view the current dispensation based solely on election related matter and thus issuing order for submission of weapons to arms licence holders at jurisdictional police station may not serve appropriate considering the plight and uncertainty we are facing. This will only invite more controversy and insecurity that will rightly offend the Kuki-Zo people,” the ITLF said.

Sources said the order is not state specific and not initiated by the state authorities on their own, but is a part of the code of the Election Commission that is followed before the Lok Sabha elections.

The ITLF in the statement asked members of the Kuki-Zo tribes “not to comply” with the order to hand over licenced guns to the police. The Kuki-Zo tribes have often alleged Meitei armed groups such as the Arambai Tenggol have crossed sensitive areas guarded by central forces to attack their villages.

The Meiteis have made counter-allegations, pointing at Kuki-Zo insurgents attacking civilians by taking advantage of the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement, a sort of ceasefire signed with the Centre and the state government. Both sides call their armed groups “village defence volunteers”.

The ITLF’s call to defy the order for depositing licenced guns at police stations violated the Election Commission’s (EC) strict code, police sources said, adding the EC will be made aware of the statement by the Kuki-Zo group for action.

Over 4,000 guns of all kinds were looted amid the violence in Manipur. Many police stations in and around Imphal valley were raided by mobs, and many were shot when they overran the guards. On May 3, 2023, the day violence broke out, a gun shop in Kuki-Zo-dominated Churachandpur was raided by mobs. N Ibomcha, the shop owner, later told local media it was the first looting of a weapon storage when clashes erupted.

A similarity between the “village defence volunteers” of both sides is that they appear to be well-armed and well-equipped with modern battle gear. The security forces have frequently recovered Russian-origin AK and US-origin M series assault rifles, and gun models commonly used by both the junta’s army and pro-democracy insurgents in neighbouring Myanmar.

The Manipur ethnic violence broke out over cataclysmic disagreements on sharing land, resources, political representation, and affirmative action policies between the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meiteis. Over 200 have died in the clashes, and thousands have been internally displaced.

The Kuki-Zo tribes are a majority in the hill areas in southern Manipur and a few other districts. The Meiteis are a majority in the valley areas.

Manipur has two Lok Sabha seats – Inner Manipur, and Outer Manipur. The entire Inner Manipur constituency and some areas under Outer Manipur will vote on April 19. The remaining areas under Outer Manipur will vote on April 26. Votes will be counted on June 4.

Imphal/New Delhi:

The office of a key Kuki-Zo civil society group that’s leading the demand for separation from Manipur was vandalised by some armed people on Sunday night, the group’s chairman Pagin Haokip said in a statement today.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) in the statement condemned what it called vandalism “by a group of cowardly armed individuals at midnight” at their office in Kuki-Zo-dominated Churachandpur district, 65 km from the state capital Imphal.

“Additionally, the same alleged armed group attempted to murder ITLF spokesperson Ginza Vualzong at his home that same night and the ITLF vehemently denounced this action,” the civil society group said in the statement also signed by its secretary Muan Tombing.

Mr Vualzong confirmed the incident on phone to NDTV today.

The ITLF did not name the armed group that vandalised its office. It also didn’t explain what may have led to the attack.

However, the ITLF strongly condemned what it called the “uncivilised and perhaps fatal violence toward members of one’s own community” – indicating it was vandalism by members of the same tribes – at a time when they are struggling for separation from Manipur, whose government the Kuki-Zo tribes say is dominated by the Meitei community to the detriment of the tribes.

“ITLF will not tolerate this heinous act and won’t stop until the alleged offenders come out and settle with ITLF as soon as possible,” the Churachandpur-based civil society group said in the statement.

This was not the first time Mr Vualzong was threatened at his home. On December 4 last year, some people armed with rods had entered his home and threatened him and his family, an incident which the Kuki-Zo civil society group had condemned strongly then.

The ITLF is a constituent member of the Zo United, formed in Manipur’s neighbour Mizoram in September, four months after ethnic clashes began in Manipur between the Kuki-Zo tribes and the Meiteis.

The other key Kuki-Zo civil society group is the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), which is based in Kangpokpi on the other side of the valley from Churachandpur, 105 km apart.

The All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM), which participated in a rally on May 3 last year against the Meiteis’ demand for ST status, had distanced itself from the ITLF and the CoTU after violence broke out, though the ATSUM held the BJP government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh responsible for the outbreak of the crisis. Former ATSUM members told local media on Sunday the ITLF and CoTU do not have the mandate of all tribes in Manipur, but represent a single tribe.

The Kuki-Zo tribes are a majority in the hill areas in southern Manipur and a few other districts, while the Meiteis are a majority in the valley areas. The conflict erupted over serious disagreements over land, resources and political representation, lit by the fuse of the Meiteis’ demand for inclusion under the affirmative action Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

The Kuki-Zo tribes have repeatedly accused the Manipur government of siding with the Meiteis in the conflict by using state forces against the tribes, while the Meiteis have alleged the 25-odd Kuki-Zo insurgent groups that have signed a tripartite peace deal with the Centre and the state government have been participating in the violence.

Over 200 have died in the ethnic clashes, and more than 50,000 have been internally displaced.