Imphal/Guwahati:

An umbrella body of civil society organisations of Manipur’s valley-dominant Meitei community has requested Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to work for restoring an elected government within a month.

President’s Rule was imposed in violence-hit Manipur on February 13 following the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

Representatives of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) met Governor Bhalla at the Raj Bhavan in the state capital Imphal, and submitted a 13-point memorandum that detailed steps the Governor may consider to bring peace to Manipur.

“It is evident that in the ongoing law and order crisis in Manipur, the Meetei group has no specific agenda or objective in engaging with this conflict. Rather, the crisis appears to be driven by those pursuing the demand for a separate administration,” COCOMI said in the memorandum.

COCOMI requested the Governor to work on a comprehensive initiative to identify, dismantle, and evict all illegal villages that have sprung up across the state, threatening its demographic and environmental integrity.

The civil society group said all violent activities and unauthorised movement of armed groups must be brought to a complete halt to ensure peace and stability, and requested for measures to provide security and amnesty for all affected villages and their civilian village defence forces to safeguard them from continued violence.

“The coordinator of the northeast [for] BJP has firmly assured that the territorial integrity of Manipur will be safeguarded. The coordinator must unequivocally assert that the administrative integrity of Manipur is paramount and must be safeguarded without exception, ensuring that it remains uncompromised. It is imperative that we eliminate any possibility of separate administration,” COCOMI said.

The Raj Bhavan in a statement said COCOMI convenor Kh Athouba and six others called on the Governor, and submitted a memorandum highlighting key issues pertaining to the state.

“… Governor heard their concerns and asked them to cooperate with the government in the run-up to restore harmony,” the Raj Bhavan said.

COCOMI alleged one of the root causes of the Manipur crisis is the involvement of what it called “Chin-Kuki narco-terrorist separatist groups” that have been working “in a manner similar to the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) in Myanmar, using this alignment to bargain for territorial gains within Manipur while deploying expendable Kuki militants in a proxy war and counter insurgency operations under the guise of loyalty” to India.

READ | ‘Manipur Crisis Driven By Those Pursuing Separate Administration’: Meitei Body In Memorandum To Governor

“The Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement since 2008, which has enabled militancy, must be thoroughly reviewed and dismantled. The leadership of these groups, including UPF leader Thanglianpau Guite (former MP in Myanmar) and KNO leader PS Haokip (originally from Somra Track, Myanmar), underscores their foreign origins,” COCOMI said in the memorandum.

“The state urgently requires reestablishment of law and order across both hills and plains, immediate relief and financial assistance for those affected, reconstruction of destroyed villages with adequate security measures, rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs), ensuring their safe return to their respective homes and villages, and free and secure access to healthcare, education, and transport facilities, including uninterrupted and safe movement along national highways,” COCOMI said.

Had a fruitful and meaningful discussion with the Hon’ble Governor of Manipur today. All key issues were thoroughly explained and acknowledged, paving the way for a better resolution of the state’s chronic problems, which have been exacerbated by immense cross-border pressures… pic.twitter.com/TyYRfIdwvq

— Khuraijam Athouba (@Paari_Athouba) February 17, 2025

Some 24 Kuki-Zo militant groups come under two umbrella organisations for the purpose of negotiations – the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) led by the KNA, and the United People’s Front (UPF) led by the Zomi Revolutionary Army. The KNO and the UPF representing all the others have signed the SoO agreement with the Centre and the Manipur government. Under this agreement, the militants are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly.

The state government has been demanding to end the SoO agreement over allegations that SoO-linked militants have been taking part in the Manipur violence, as also militants from several banned Meitei groups that had nearly been eradicated from Manipur in the last 10 years, only to return from their hideouts in neighbouring Myanmar after the breakout of ethnic clashes in May 2023.

READ | End Ceasefire With All Kuki-Zo Insurgent Groups: Manipur Assembly Unanimous Resolution

The SoO agreement is reviewed by a joint monitoring group every year; its last review was in February 2024, but little is known about the current status of the agreement.

Meitei leaders have alleged the SoO groups have been working to strengthen themselves over the years by taking advantage of the ceasefire, until a time came to engineer a violent attack for a separate land. Geopolitical analysts have speculated the Kuki armed groups were used as mercenaries to fight Meitei and Naga militants operating in the India-Myanmar border – while the SoO groups’ demand for separate territory carved out of Manipur is the unintended side effect of that alleged policy.

The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Imphal/Guwahati:

N Biren Singh, who resigned as Chief Minister of violence-hit Manipur days before President’s Rule with the assembly under animated suspension was imposed, in a long post on X today said the shift in Manipur’s demographic balance is not speculation, but “happening before our eyes.”

The Kuki tribes, who are dominant in some areas categorised as hill districts in Manipur, hold Mr Singh responsible for the outbreak of clashes in May 2023 over his policies that allegedly targeted the Kuki tribes.

The valley-dominant Meitei community blame an influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring Myanmar and alleged mushrooming of unrecognised villages across the state as the root cause of the ethnic clashes.

Land rights and political representation are also among issues that have contributed to tensions.

Mr Singh shared an old post from November 8, 2022 showing a 26-year-old Myanmar national who was arrested for carrying the Aadhaar card of an Indian who had died.

“Flashback to 2022: A Myanmar national with a fake Indian Aadhaar card. How many more remain undetected till today?” Mr Singh said in the post.

“Our land and identity are under threat. With a small population and limited resources, we stand vulnerable. I monitored and detected illegal immigration tirelessly until May 2, 2023. But after the tragic events of 3rd May, 2023 our state machinery has struggled to respond effectively.

“An unguarded 398-km border with Myanmar and the Free Movement Regime (FMR) were rapidly shifting Manipur’s demographic balance. This is not speculation, it is happening before our eyes. Since our government took charge in March 2017, the challenge has only intensified. After the May 3, 2023 incident, the situation has become even more critical,” Mr Singh said.

“Manipur is a small state, with a small population and no significant resources. We have only three MPs to represent us in the nation’s highest decision-making body. Yet, we have always stood with pride, resilience, and an unbreakable spirit.

“Illegal immigration continues to be on the rise, threatening the very fabric of our society. So far, we have only identified a fraction of those who have entered our land. But what about the ones who remain undetected to this day? I urge all concerned authorities to take serious note and intensify efforts to detect and deport illegal immigrants from Manipur. As for me, I will continue this fight with unwavering commitment in every way I can,” Mr Singh said.

“The challenge before us is not just ours alone, it carries consequences far beyond our borders,” he added.

Flashback to 2022: A Myanmar national with a fake Indian Aadhaar card. How many more remain undetected till today?

My Dear Indigenous Friends,

Our land and identity are under threat. With a small population and limited resources, we stand vulnerable. I monitored and detected… https://t.co/ivUX7gDvt9

— N. Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) February 13, 2025

What Next In Manipur

The President’s Rule was imposed for the 11th time in Manipur today since 1951.

Sources in the Manipur administration said that for a start, they expect the central security forces to neutralise armed groups, disarm everyone from both sides, open up highways in the hill and valley areas, ensure airport access for all, and work out ways to rebuild, compensate and provide safety for internally displaced people to return home.

A communique from the office of President Droupadi Murmu said after receiving a report from Governor Ajay Bhalla and “after considering the report and other information received by me, I am satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the Government of that State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India”.

The move by the Centre came as the state BJP failed to come to a consensus on the chief ministerial candidate and the assembly could not be convened.

The BJP was hoping to pick a chief minister after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned from his visit to the US. But meanwhile, the gap in the convening of state assembly threatened to pass the constitutionally approved maximum time of six months.

Article 174(1) of the Constitution says that state assemblies have to be convened no later than six months after their last sitting.

In the case of Manipur, the last sitting was on August 12, 2024. The budget session of the assembly, which was expected to begin on Monday, had to be postponed indefinitely after Mr Singh and his Council of Ministers stepped down. 

The deadline for convening the assembly was today and in the evening, President’s Rule had to be declared in the state.

Imphal:

The umbrella body of civil society organisations of the Meitei community in Manipur has alleged statements issued by its Kuki counterparts in recent times show they want “to create circumstances that validate their long-standing demand for a separate administration.”

The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) in a statement said even when the Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh stepped down “for the larger good”, Kuki civil society groups have “found another pretext to continue their movement for a separate administration.”

COCOMI’s statement comes amid the spectre of President’s Rule looming large over the violence-hit state after the chief minister resigned on Sunday, a day before a no-confidence motion to be introduced by the Congress in the budget session of the assembly, which was cancelled by the Governor.

The Meitei civil society organisation alleged their Kuki counterparts have “consistently sought new justifications to sustain unrest, making their own people suffer while capitalising on their discontent to push their vested political agenda.”

“COCOMI urges the government of India to recognise this systematic agenda and take firm measures to hold accountable any individual, organisation, or group that justifies instability and violence as a means to pursue their political ambitions. The people of Manipur deserve peace, stability, and a resolution that upholds the integrity of the state,” it said.

The valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Churachandpur-based Kuki organisation Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Kangpokpi-based Kuki group Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) are in the forefront of the call for a separate administration carved out from Manipur, so are the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs in the 60-member Manipur assembly and nearly a dozen Kuki-Zo militant groups that have signed a ceasefire (Suspension of Operations, or SoO Agreement).

The Kuki tribes and the opposition Congress party in Manipur have said the chief minister’s resignation is “too little, too late”. They have not given any indication of agreeing for talks unless they get separate administration, and an investigation is ordered into the alleged role of the chief minister in instigating the violence.

While Kuki leaders and militants under the SoO agreement have pointed at the ethnic clashes that began in May 2023 as the reason why they escalated their demand from an autonomous council to a separate administration, or a Union Territory with an assembly, Meitei leaders have cited numerous protests in the past by the Kuki tribes seeking separation, or “Kukiland”, a land of their own.

The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC) in a memorandum to the Manipur Governor on January 15 said the Kuki tribes have been demanding a state “since 1946-47.”

“We have been demanding Constitutional Kukiland state under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, since 1946-47 to the first Prime Minister of India PM Jawaharlal Nehru in the name of Kuki National Assembly (KNA), resurged by Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) and KNO-UPF who were under SoO with GoI [government of India] since 2008, to safeguard and in recognition of our community’s rights, including our right to self-determination, cultural identity, and linguistic heritage,” the WKZIC said in the memorandum, which also detailed hardships of the Kuki tribes since India’s Independence.

Over 250 people have been killed and 50,000 have been internally displaced in the Manipur clashes that began nearly two years ago.

New Delhi:

Representatives of a Kuki-Zo body from Manipur met Union Home Ministry officials in Delhi and sought a separate administration carved out of the violence-hit state. The members of the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) also requested the Centre to start a political dialogue to resolve the Manipur crisis.

The Kuki-Zo delegation led by KZC chairman Henlianthang Thanglet met a two-member central team headed by adviser to the home ministry in the northeast, AK Mishra. The other was Intelligence Bureau Joint Director for the northeast, Rajesh Kamble.

“We placed our demand for a separate administration for the Kuki-Zo people of Manipur and the initiation of a political dialogue,” KZC spokesperson Ginza Vualzong said.

Mr Vualzong has also been associated with the Churachandpur-based Kuki civil group Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) as its spokesperson.

The meeting took place days after the KZC representatives met Manipur’s new Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district. The Governor had sought their cooperation in maintaining peace in Manipur and finding a solution.

The KZC in the meeting with the Centre’s officials in Delhi requested to ensure the “buffer zones” – which the Manipur government calls “sensitive areas” – in the foothills are not violated by the valley-dominant Meitei community.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have killed over 250 people and internally displaced nearly 60,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Both sides have accused each other of attacking villages in the foothills.

The Manipur government on December 19, 2024, in a statement said there was no organisation called “Kuki-Zo Council”. The KZC, formed in October 2024, had objected to Chief Minister N Biren Singh passing through Kangpokpi district in order to reach Senapati district, where Mr Singh participated in a local festival.

The Kuki tribes hold Mr Singh, who belongs to the Meitei community, responsible for starting the ethnic violence. They have also submitted to a commission of inquiry under the MHA purported audio clips in which the chief minister was allegedly heard admitting he was responsible for the spark that lit the fuse.

Separate Administration Deadlock

Kuki-Zo groups, including insurgent organisations that represent their tribes and that signed the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government, have pointed at the ethnic clashes that began in May 2023 as the reason why they escalated their demand from an autonomous council to a separate administration, or a Union Territory with an assembly.

The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC), however, in a memorandum to Manipur’s new Governor on January 15 said the Kuki tribes have been demanding a state “since 1946-47.”

“We have been demanding Constitutional Kukiland state under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, since 1946-47 to the first Prime Minister of India PM Jawaharlal Nehru in the name of Kuki National Assembly (KNA), resurged by Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) and KNO-UPF who were under SoO with GoI since 2008, to safeguard and in recognition of our community’s rights, including our right to self-determination, cultural identity, and linguistic heritage,” the WKZIC said in the memorandum, which also detailed hardships of the Kuki tribes since India’s Independence.

The internally displaced people from both communities are yet to return home.

Kuki leaders have said a “political solution” in the form of a separate administration should be discussed first before any other issues, including the return of thousands of people living in relief camps.

Meitei leaders have, however, cited this condition placed by the Kuki leaders as a deceitful attempt to set up a narrative for an ethnocentric homeland demand; the Meitei leaders’ argument is that talks can go on while at the same time people living in difficult conditions in the camps can also return home since no territory is ethnic exclusive.

The demand for an ethnocentric homeland is untenable and obsolete in Manipur, where at least 35 communities co-exist, a group of activists and academics from the violence-hit state bordering Myanmar had said at a side event of the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in October.

Suspension of Operations (SoO) Agreement

Under the SoO agreement, Kuki-Zo insurgents are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked, monitored storage.

The Manipur government has been asking the joint monitoring group, which reviews the SoO agreement every year, to scrap it for good, over allegations that the SoO groups have been involved in the Manipur violence from the beginning. The SoO agreement lapsed in February this year.

Meitei leaders have alleged the SoO groups have been working to strengthen themselves over the years by taking advantage of the ceasefire, until a time came to engineer a violent attack for a separate land. Geopolitical analysts have speculated the Kuki armed groups were used as mercenaries to fight Meitei and Naga militants operating in the India-Myanmar border.

The ITLF and the Kangpokpi-based Kuki group Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), their 10 MLAs, and the nearly two dozen insurgent groups that have signed the SoO agreement have come on the same stage in demanding a separate administration carved out of Manipur.

Imphal/New Delhi:

The police chief of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district who was injured in protests by members of the Kuki tribes on Friday had been fighting extortionists and pushing back against a call for a meeting “with all police personnel” by a civil society group, intelligence sources told NDTV.

They cited two flash messages sent by Kangpokpi district Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Prabhakar – a month apart – to all officers in charge of police stations and outposts in the district, asking them not to give in to demands for money by “unlawful groups” and not to attend a meeting of “all police personnel of Kangpokpi district” called by a Kangpokpi-based Kuki group.

Mr Prabhakar, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who suffered a gash on his forehead amid the protest by members of the Kuki tribes on Friday, sent the first flash message on November 19, ordering all police personnel in Kangpokpi district to guard against extortion attempts by “unlawful groups”, sources who have access to the message told NDTV.

“It is learnt from sources that some unlawful groups are demanding money from Kpi [Kangpokpi] district police. In this regard, it is ordered to instruct your police personnel not to give money to such groups. Any police personnel found partying to such groups will face disciplinary action,” the message sent on November 19 to all officers in charge of police stations and outposts in the district 45 km from the state capital Imphal said.

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Police personnel, especially the junior ranks who live with their families in Kangpokpi, are vulnerable to demand for money by unlawful groups, the sources said, adding the SP was aware of this.

The IPS officer sent the second flash message to all police stations in Kangpokpi on December 19 – a day before a meeting called by a Kuki group – cautioning police personnel against attending the meeting without permission, sources said.

“It is learnt from a msg. being circulated across social media platforms that CoTU (Committee on Tribal Unity) has called all police personnel of Kpi [Kangpokpi] dist. for a meeting on 20th Dec. 2024 at 2:00 PM in Keithelmanbi community hall. In this regard, officers and personnel of all ranks are instructed to not attend the meeting without prior permission. Anyone attending the meeting without prior permission will face disciplinary action,” the SP said in the message, referring to the Kangpokpi-based Kuki group CoTU.

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Protesters from the Kuki tribes had clashed with central security forces in Kangpokpi on Friday night, days after they tried to stop the security forces from dismantling bunkers on the hills. The protesters had been looking to stop transport as part of their economic blockade enforced to demand the withdrawal of central forces from the hills in the district.

When the security forces asked them to fall back, they moved towards the office of the Kangpokpi deputy commissioner and the SP. The security forces responded with tear gas and blank firing. Individuals armed with automatic weapons were also seen out in the roads amid the protesters. The militant organisation Kuki National Front (KNF), which signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government, is a dominant group in Kangpokpi.

The SP was hit by some projectile thrown by the mob. Visuals showed blood trickling down his forehead, above the right eyelash.

CoTU on Sunday called off the blockade, marking a temporary pause in over a week of unrest in Kangpokpi district.

Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Saturday ordered the Director General of Police Rajiv Singh to prioritise the safety and security of people. The Governor also told army and paramilitary officers to fully cooperate with the administration in maintaining law and order, officials said.

Extortion In Manipur

The Kangpokpi SP’s message to police personnel to guard against demand for money by “unlawful groups”, however, is symptomatic of a wider problem that has been spreading in recent months.

There has been numerous extortion threats by groups of armed people in Manipur, especially in urban areas such as Imphal city and the district headquarters in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, sources have said, adding these groups have been taking advantage of the Manipur crisis that have kept the police and the security forces occupied on maintaining peace.

Many shop owners in Imphal, for example, have complained of being forced to pay up by armed people, despite failing businesses due to no economic activity for over a year since ethnic violence began in May 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Kuki tribes, who are dominant in the hill areas of southern Manipur bordering Myanmar and some areas in the north.

The news website The Print reported that the Meitei insurgent group United National Liberation Front (UNLF) “reportedly collected lakhs as ‘donations’ from several politicians, according to documents recovered as ‘digital evidence’, now part of a chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate.”

The Manipur Police frequently post updates on X with arrested members of the Arambai Tenggol and Kangleipak Communist Party (People’s War Group), or KCP(PWG), for alleged extortion and threats.

The KCP(PWG) is likely being used as “hired guns” to attack civilians and carry out extortion in the valley areas in order to keep tension simmering, top intelligence sources told NDTV on December 16 based on initial investigation.

They declined to say who hired these insurgents to create terror in the valley areas, citing the investigation is in an early stage.

Manipur Deadlock

Kuki civil society groups such as the Churachandpur-based Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the CoTU, and their 10 MLAs have joined the call for a separate administration carved out of Manipur, a demand also made by the nearly two dozen militant groups that have signed the SoO agreement.

This single demand has brought the Kuki militant groups, the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs, and the civil society groups on the same page.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes have killed over 250 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

Five weeks before the Manipur ethnic clashes began in May 2023, a cabinet subcommittee comprising ministers from the three major communities visited three villages to make an assessment of the situation on “identification of Myanmarese immigrants/refugees”, reports submitted by the subcommittee show.

Tribal Affairs and Hills Minister Letpao Haokip, who belongs to the Kuki tribes, headed the subcommittee, with Water Resources Minister Awangbow Newmai, a Naga, and Law Minister Th Basanta Kumar Singh, a Meitei, as the two other members.

They visited the three villages between March 26, 2023 and April 1, 2023, and met Myanmar nationals – including a Member of Parliament from the neighbouring country – living in community halls under the watch of the village chiefs.

The Kuki tribes in Manipur still follow the archaic hereditary chieftainship system – blamed for power struggles among siblings and mushrooming of villages – which has been abolished even in neighbouring Mizoram where kindred tribes live.

The subcommittee never made subsequent visits after clashes broke out on May 3, 2023 between the Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur.

Subcommittee Chairman Seeks Separate Administration 

Letpao Haokip later joined the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs who went on to demand a separate administration carved out from Manipur. Kuki groups had raised the same demand in 2015 after nine people from their community were killed in police firing during a protest against three controversial bills tabled by the state government, then under the Congress party led by former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

Meitei leaders say claims by the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs and frontal groups that they raised the demand for a separate administration only after the May 3 violence erupted, was a blatant lie.

By the time the subcommittee began their survey in late March 2023, tension had already permeated Kuki-dominated areas in southern Manipur after the government carried out an eviction drive in Churachandpur’s K Songjang village just a month ago. The subcommittee’s visits to the three villages also coincided with sporadic protests by Kuki groups against what they called illegal eviction from forests.

An NDTV report on June 21, 2023 citing preliminary documents filed by the subcommittee said over 2,000 Myanmar nationals have set up settlements inside Manipur and refused to be moved to designated shelters. They fled from the war between the ruling junta and ethnic insurgent groups claiming to fight for democracy.

The final copies of the subcommittee’s reports complete with visuals of the visit, which NDTV accessed now, show the three leaders repeatedly appealed to the village chiefs to persuade Myanmar nationals to live in designated shelter camps once the structures were ready.

The subcommittee visited Holenphai village in Tengnoupal district on March 26, Gamphazol village in Chandel district on March 29, and Singhat in Churachandpur district on April 1, 2023.

“Shri Letpao Haokip… highlighted the issue of illegal Myanmar nationals into Indian side which cause apprehension amongst general public as there is high chance of getting such immigrants getting naturalised amongst common native population because of similarity in culture and dialect. He further highlighted that even though such cases are not reported, there is apprehension that many of them had already resided in the main Churachandpur town area in rented houses,” the report of the visit to Singhat said.

“Shri Th. Basanta Kumar Singh also appeals to all illegal immigrants to come forward and join the shelter homes, not hiding amongst locals, supporting the humanitarian goodwill gesture extended by the government,” the report of the subcommittee’s visit to Holenphai – the first village they went to on March 26, 2023 – said.

Border Pillars At Gamphazol Village

Chandel district’s Gamphazol village presented a unique problem. The district commissioner said the IMB (Indo-Myanmar Border) falling in Chandel district “is different from other neighbouring districts” as it has a sparsely populated, vast stretch of forest covering 60-75 km between Border Pillar No. 72 and 49.

“It was also suggested that only one temporary shelter may not be feasible to cater [to] all such immigrants along the stretch and as such temporary shelters at Gamphazol in the northern side and Somdal in the Southern side [were proposed],” the report of the subcommittee’s visit to this border village on March 29, 2023 said. The district commissioner said they found 628 “illegal immigrants” along the stretch of IMB falling in Chandel district, out of which 250 were at Gamphazol village.

Subcommittee Meets Myanmar MP Ousted By Junta

In Holenphai, the three ministers met Thamsei Haokip, a Myanmar Member of Parliament before the junta overthrew the government, who told the subcommittee that he would follow all rules and regulations while being a refugee in India and would return to Myanmar once the issue there is “over/settled”, the report said.

“He [Thamsei Haokip] pointed out that due to the military junta in their country, they have come to Manipur being the nearest state of the world’s largest democratic country expecting humanitarian support [to] them at this juncture when civilians cannot stay in Myanmar out of the issue. He appeals to the state government to provide identification cards and to allow/facilitate earning livelihood. He also asserted that they will go back once the issue in Myanmar is settled…”

The foreign MP asked the subcommittee to shift Myanmar nationals earlier detained as illegal immigrants to the proposed shelter homes, and requested not to treat them as illegal immigrants since they fled from the junta rule, where “civilians are being killed”.

An activist from one of the Kuki tribes, who claims to know the Myanmar MP personally, told NDTV that the foreign politician has deep links with the Kuki National Army (Burma), or KNA(B). Thamsei Haokip has taken shelter in a relatively safe, forested area along the India-Myanmar border, the source said, adding it will be a big ask for the Meitei community to trust the likes of Thamsei Haokip due to the precedent set by another Myanmar-origin leader, Thanglianpau Guite.

The Manipur government has blamed unchecked entry of illegal immigrants from Myanmar as one of the factors responsible for the violence. It has also cited “unnatural growth of villages” owing to illegal immigrants being allegedly accommodated by village chiefs.

Precedent Set: Myanmar MP-Turned-Militant Group Leader

Meitei civil society groups are sensitive to any mention of Myanmar-origin leaders in the context of Manipur. Chief Minister N Biren Singh has said this sensitivity is due to the manner in which how Thanglianpau Guite – the “Myanmar-born” politician who contested the MP election in his country and who later became the chairman of the militant group Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) – was welcomed by the then Congress government when P Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The ZRA is a signatory to the controversial suspension of operations (SoO) agreement, which lapsed in February this year.

Over two dozen Kuki-Zo insurgent groups come under two umbrella groups – the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), and the United People’s Front (UPF). These two representing the others have signed the SoO agreement, which says the insurgents are to stay at designated camps with weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly.

Meitei leaders have alleged the SoO groups have been working to strengthen themselves over the years by taking advantage of the ceasefire, until a time came to engineer a violent attack for a separate land. Geopolitical analysts have speculated the Kuki armed groups were used as mercenaries to fight Meitei and Naga militants operating in the India-Myanmar border.

Myanmar’s government-in-exile in a statement in June 2023 – a month into the Manipur clashes – asked its nationals who are “temporarily sheltering” in India “to refrain from any acts that are prejudicial to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.”

The National Unity Government (NUG) in the statement told Myanmar nationals “sheltering” in India and their organisations to avoid unnecessary involvement in India’s politics and administrative activity, and asked them to live in harmony with the host communities. The NUG also appealed to the Myanmar nationals to not get involved in drug trafficking.

The Manipur government on January 18, 2023 announced it would form the subcommittee to identify “Myanmarese immigrants/refugees”; the state government on February 16 announced the composition of the three-member panel, and on March 24 it ordered the police to check the number of Myanmarese immigrants in five districts – Tengnoupal, Chandel, Churachandpur, Pherzawl, and Kamjong.

While the February 16 announcement referred to the subcommittee as one that would work on identifying “Myanmarese immigrants/refugees” in the state, the reports of the subcommittee’s visits referred to them as “illegal immigrants”.

Myanmar Refugees In Mizoram

Neighbouring Mizoram has taken in over 40,000 Myanmar refugees. Mizoram government sources told NDTV on November 10 that it has been nearly three years since the coup in Myanmar, and feeding and taking care of all the displaced people and refugees in a small state as Mizoram remained a huge challenge. There were also concerns over a rise in drug trafficking. The sources said the Mizoram government can’t thank the central government enough for the massive help it has been giving to ensure enough resources are available with the state to tide over the refugee crisis.

“The people of Mizoram are not immune to the strain that all these efforts bring. There is especially a growing dissatisfaction even in our own community, especially from the intellectual circle. Yes, we are welcoming them as brothers and sisters, but what are we getting back in return? We are getting drugs, this and that. So the frustration is growing, obviously,” the source told NDTV.

The Kuki tribes have criticised the Manipur government over not treating Myanmar refugees in a humane way as Mizoram has done.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes have killed over 250 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000. The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the Kuki tribes want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/New Delhi:

An influential civil society group of the Meitei community in Manipur has criticised comments by former Union home secretary GK Pillai in an article, in which he called for a criminal case to be filed against Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

The Meitei Leepun in a two-page statement alluded to Mr Pillai’s comments as stemming from his close ties with the Kuki tribes.

“We never expect Mr Pillai to criticise the present government of Manipur and propose a dire consequence. The indigenous people of Manipur will never forget that the perpetrators of the present conflict, Kuki militants, signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement during the Congress-led UPA government and he was the home secretary dealing with northeast affairs,” the Meitei Leepun said in the statement signed by its chief M Pramot Singh.

“However, it’s not surprising that he was befooled by the kukis. It’s not the first or the last time that Kukis have engaged in distorting historical facts. For instance, the curious case of the Kuki rebellion of 1917-1919 which they presented as the Anglo-Kuki War to legitimise their imagined Kuki homeland within Manipur never actually happened,” the Meitei Leepun said.

“Their (Kukis’) academics have written extensively on it for decades to legitimise it and others have not left any stone unturned to validate that manufactured truth. Documents from the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) are readily available to dismiss such false claims. Fortunately for the rest of us without the western Christian tinted glasses, facts are objective and unchanging. Though Mr Pillai seems to have been heavily influenced by biases and experiences. It’s important to remember that feelings are not facts,” the Meitei Leepun said.

Similar to the controversial civil society groups of the Kuki tribes such as the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) and the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), which face allegations of having direct links with Kuki militants, the Meitei Leepun has also come under scrutiny in the Manipur crisis. All of them claim they are working only for the defence of their respective communities. If action is not taken uniformly, if action is taken against only one of them, it would be seen as biased amid the deep divide, they say.

“… Mr Pillai should not have (got) carried away with the post-Independence history-building efforts of the Kukis,” the Meitei Leepun said.

On November 20, Biren Singh blamed “some vested interests” for reigniting a new cycle of violence in Manipur, after having been relatively peaceful for three-four months, and criticised Congress leader P Chidambaram as someone who “created the present crisis”.

Mr Singh’s frontal attack came hours after Mr Chidambaram in a post on X suggested “the Meitei, the Kuki-Zo and the Naga can live together in one state only if they have genuine regional autonomy”, and blamed the Chief Minister for causing the crisis. Mr Chidambaram, however, removed the post after Manipur Congress chief Keisham Meghachandra requested him to delete it , amid the volatile situation in Manipur.

Mr Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2008 when he steered the highly controversial tripartite SoO agreement between over a dozen Kuki-Zo militant groups on one side and the Centre and the state government on the other, the Chief Minister has said. The Congress was also in power in Manipur at that time.

“I will say it openly. When he (Mr Chidambaram) was the (Union) Home Minister in the then Congress government, here in Manipur (Congress’s) O Ibobi was the Chief Minister. During their time, they brought a Myanmarese foreigner, Mr Thanglianpau Guite, a Myanmar-born who himself admitted in an interview that he contested an election for MP in Myanmar. That person is the chairman of the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) based in Myanmar,” Mr Singh said.

“I am surprised how Mr Chidambaram – there is a photograph, there is Chidambaram, then Union Home Minister, and here is Thanglianpau Guite, the chairman of the Zomi Revolutionary Army, who is from Myanmar – they never cared about people from the northeast, about indigenous people,” Mr Singh said, holding up an enlarged photo with a red circle on who Mr Singh said was Thanglianpau Guite seen shaking hands with Mr Chidambaram in a black suit.

Meitei leaders have alleged the SoO groups have been working to strengthen themselves over the years by taking advantage of the ceasefire, until a time came to engineer a violent attack for a separate land. Geopolitical analysts have speculated the Kuki armed groups were used as mercenaries to fight Meitei and Naga militants operating in the India-Myanmar border.

Kuki-Zo civil society groups such as the ITLF and the CoTU, and their 10 MLAs have joined the call for a separate administration carved out of Manipur, a demand also made by the nearly two dozen militant groups that have signed the SoO agreement.

This single demand has brought the Kuki militant groups, the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs, and the civil society groups on the same page.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the 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 Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/New Delhi:

Two minor siblings who hid in fields during an attack by “Kuki militants” in Manipur’s Jiribam district on November 11 have given details of what they saw that day.

The elder of the two said he managed to run from “armed Kukis” before they took away his family at gunpoint.

His younger brother said he was in another house with an uncle and an aunt; they too hid in a field.

Their mother, Telem Thoibi Devi, 31, and eight-year-old sister were among six members of their family who were kidnapped and killed by suspects identified as “Kuki militants” by the state government. The other four were their grandmother, mother’s sister, her infant baby, and three-year-old son.

NDTV is not disclosing their identities since they are minors and also eyewitnesses to a case which is now being handled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

“I was hiding in a field. I couldn’t get up as I was scared of getting shot,” the 12-year-old survivor said.

“I was with an uncle in another house, some four houses away (from where his family members were). When I got out to see, the Kukis came shouting expletives. The CRPF was there, but all of them had gone for lunch. Only one (soldier) was behind,” said the 12-year-old son of Thoibi Devi, whose decomposed body with four bullet wounds in the chest was found floating in a river in Jiribam.

The autopsy report of Thoibi Devi also said both eyes were dislodged from the sockets; her scalp was lacerated at many places, the skull bone was broken and pushed in, and her head was crushed.

The 12-year-old boy said there were women among the attackers in Jiribam’s Borobekra village.

“They came in two packed vehicles, some came walking. They were diesel autorickshaw, the big ones. They surrounded (us) from all four sides. I didn’t see how many women were there, but I saw their faces. I didn’t see them set houses on fire. I saw smoke rising from there while hiding in the field with my uncle and aunt,” he said. “My brother was with my mother. He managed to run.”

The eldest among the three siblings, who is 14, also said the attackers came in autorickshaws. He was with his mother, sister and the other family members.

“They were armed, they jumped out and started shooting at the house. Two of them came and kicked the door. They told us to get out, which we did. A total of four were outside. One of them held my arm and hit my face with the butt of the gun. There was a huge swelling here,” he said, and touched his face to show the affected area.

“I managed to run. They fired a few rounds. They (family) were taken away at gunpoint. I hid in a nearby field. I saw a Casper (armoured vehicle) pursuing them towards the bazaar, towards the ghat, where there are steps (on the banks of the Barak River),” he said.

“It was a CRPF Casper, the small, white one, which looks like a Scorpio. It was damaged in the gunfight. We heard the gunshots,” he said.

Civilians in Manipur often call any large armoured SUV or truck “Casper”, after the Casspir mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicle used in counter-insurgency operations.

The police in Jiribam had released a photo of a white SUV with numerous bullet holes, which they claimed were fired by militants.

The eyewitness accounts of the two young boys appear to corroborate with what other eyewitnesses in Jiribam’s Borobekra had reported.

Laishram Herojit, whose three family members including wife, infant and three-year-old son were killed, told NDTV on November 13 that he got a call from his wife when shooting and arson broke out. The call got disconnected and when he dialled her back, he found the phone was switched off.

“She was crying on the phone. She said they were surrounded by a lot of armed people. The call got disconnected, after which I called her back, but the mobile was switched off. My mother-in-law’s phone was also switched off. About an hour later – and we had been searching for a while – a Bengali friend of my wife told us she saw them being taken away in a boat,” Mr Herojit told NDTV.

The 10-month-old infant was shot in the knee, stabbed in the chest, and hit with a blunt object on the jaw, according to the postmortem report shared by the family. Both eyeballs were missing, and maggots were present in the infant’s body which was found in an advanced stage of putrefaction, the autopsy report said. There were bruises all over the face and a sharp cut in the abdomen. The “chop wound” on the infant’s chest fractured the ribs, the autopsy report said.

The Kuki militants had split up into two groups, one that took the family of six, and the other that moved towards the CRPF camp, police sources have said. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp and the police station in Jiribam’s Borobekra are less than 1 km from the Barak River (see map above).

The yellow line is the distance between the river and the CRPF camp (approximately 600 metres), while the white line is the distance between a small settlement and the police station (approximately 350 metres). The small settlement is on the upper tip of the white arrow. This is where the houses were set on fire by the Kuki militants after attacking the police station, according to police sources.

The CRPF engaged them in the open stretch between the larger settlement towards the direction of the river and the camp, which is next to the small settlement that was set on fire, sources had said.

Civil society groups and leaders of the Kuki tribes have claimed the 10 men were “village volunteers”.

The police have, however, called them “militants” and showed assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher as recovered from them, and the bullet-ridden SUV.

Political leaders across party lines have condemned the killing of women and children in Manipur. Most have said the latest incident was a terror attack considering it was not a skirmish between two communities in a riot-like situation, but a calculated, premeditated kidnapping operation with an intention to kill them.

The latest round of violence in Jiribam began on November 7 when suspected Meitei militants attacked a village of the Hmar tribe. A woman from the Hmar tribe was killed in the attack. Her husband in a police case alleged she was shot in the leg, raped and then set on fire by the suspected Meitei militants. Civil society groups of the Kuki tribes have accused the Manipur government of keeping silent on that attack.

The Manipur cabinet in a statement on November 16 had said “Kuki miscreants” burnt several houses and attacked Borobekra police station in Jiribam district on October 19. This attack and not the November 7 attack led to a fresh cycle of violence, sources have said.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the 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 Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/New Delhi:

A 10-month-old baby who was among six family members kidnapped and killed by “Kuki militants” in Manipur’s Jiribam district on November 11 was shot in the knee, stabbed on the chest, and hit with a blunt object on the jaw, according to the postmortem report shared by the family.

Laishram Lamnganba Singh was last seen on his mother’s lap in a photograph that surfaced on a public WhatsApp channel called ‘Zogam News’, a day after all six members of the same family from the Meitei community were kidnapped from Jiribam by suspects who the Manipur government in a cabinet resolution called “Kuki militants”.

The WhatsApp channel formed in March this year and which had 12,000 subscribers has shut down, with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) looking into the case now.

All the six bodies were found floating in a river in Jiribam between November 15 and 18. While the autopsies were done on all the six bodies last week, only three reports were released. The other three reports came out today.

Both eyeballs were missing, and maggots were present in the infant’s body which was found in an advanced stage of putrefaction, the autopsy report said. There were bruises all over the face and a sharp cut in the abdomen. The “chop wound” on the infant’s chest fractured the ribs, the autopsy report said.

The body of 8-year-old Telem Thajamanbi Devi was also found in an early stage of decomposition with maggots in some parts of the body. She suffered a bullet wound in her shoulder, which pierced through the heart, lung and ribs and exited, the autopsy report said.

Her mother, Telem Thoiboi Devi, 31, was shot four times in the chest, the report said. Her head had been crushed, it said. Thoiboi Devi’s body was decomposed and both eyes were dislodged from the sockets; her scalp was lacerated at many places and the skull bone was broken and pushed in, according to the autopsy report.

The postmortem reports of the infant’s mother L Heitonbi Devi, 25, his grandmother Y Rani Devi, 60 and his 3-year-old brother, which were released last week, found they were all shot dead.

The autopsy reports of two senior citizens from the Meitei community who were killed by “Kuki militants” on the same day the family was kidnapped show both died of severe burn injuries. The militants had set some houses on fire after attacking the police station in Jiribam’s Borobekra village.

The bodies of Maibam Kesho Meitei, 72, and Laishram Baren Meitei, 64, were found during a search operation hours after 10 “Kuki militants” were shot dead in an encounter with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), police sources had said.

Intelligence sources said the public WhatsApp channel ‘Zogam News’, which first shared the photo of the kidnapped family, may have shut down; however, investigators can use legal means to order the messenger’s parent firm Meta to share the logs, which can find the details of the phone number, SIM card and its owner, and last tower location, apart from other content.

Civil society organisations of the Kuki tribes claim the 10 men killed in the encounter were “village volunteers”, an allegation the police and other authorities have refuted strongly, pointing at the weapons brought by the militants and numerous bullet holes in a police SUV.

Political leaders across party lines have condemned the killing of women and children in Manipur. Most have said the latest incident was a terror attack considering it was not a skirmish between two communities in a riot-like situation, but a calculated, premeditated kidnapping operation with an intention to kill them.

The latest round of violence in Jiribam began on November 7 when suspected Meitei insurgents attacked a village of the Hmar tribe. A woman from the Hmar tribe was killed in the attack. Her husband in a police case alleged she was shot in the leg, raped and then set on fire by the suspected Meitei militants. Civil society groups of the Kuki tribes have accused the Manipur government of keeping silent on that attack.

The Manipur cabinet in a statement on November 16 had said “Kuki miscreants” burnt several houses and attacked Borobekra police station in Jiribam district on October 19. This attack and not the November 7 attack led to a fresh cycle of violence, sources have said.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the 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 Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Imphal/New Delhi:

The last photograph of L Chingkheinganba Singh, 3, whose partially decomposed body was found in a river in Manipur’s Jiribam district, shows five other family members including his infant sibling and mother sitting together in a forested area.

Chingkheinganba Singh, in a tiny pink t-shirt, had turned his head to look at something or someone. His mother and eight-month-old sibling sat a step across from him. An orange rattle toy lay on a nest of dry bamboo leaves on the ground.

The three-year-old boy from the Meitei community has a bullet wound in the skull, the autopsy report said. There are stab wounds and fractures in the chest and lacerations in the forearm and other parts of the body. His right eye is missing.

The autopsy report shows his mother, L Heitonbi Devi, 25, has three bullet wounds in the chest and one in the buttock.

His grandmother Y Rani Devi, 60, has five bullet wounds – one in the skull, two in the chest, one in the abdomen, and one in the arm.

There are deep lacerations on many parts of the bodies of the two women, the autopsy reports show.

The autopsy reports of the three other family members of Chingkheinganba Singh are with the Jiribam police. They are eight-month-old infant Langamba Singh, his mother’s sister T Thoibi Devi, 31, and her eight-year-old daughter T Thajamanbi Devi.

Laishram Herojit, the father of Chingkheinganba Singh, told NDTV today he asked the police to give the remaining three autopsy reports as the family has the right to access them under the law. Mr Herojit said he is waiting for the police’s response.

Calls to the Jiribam police station went unanswered.

A joint action committee formed to demand justice in the killings said the police have asked them to bring a court order if they want the three remaining autopsy reports.

The premeditated kidnappings and killings of the six members of the Meitei community were done by “Kuki militants”, the Manipur government has said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is looking into the case.

All the six were living in a relief camp in Jiribam’s Borobekra after they lost their homes in the ethnic clashes between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes that broke out in May 2023.

At least two dozen Kuki militants attacked the police station in Borobekra, near the interstate border with Assam, on November 11 and killed two senior citizens from the Meitei community, police sources have said. Another group of militants kidnapped the six civilians while the other group pressed on with their attack, sources said.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soon engaged the Kuki militants in a 45-minute gunfight, at the end of which the security forces found 10 bodies along with assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher.

Mr Herojit told NDTV an eyewitness saw his family being taken away in a boat on the Barak River on November 11. All the six bodies were found floating in the river between November 15 and 18.

The photo of the six civilians in captivity appeared in a WhatsApp channel called ‘Zogam News’, which has over 12,000 followers. Reactions on the photo had smiling emoticons. It soon went viral on social media. The WhatsApp channel’s information page shows it was created on March 25, 2024.

Intelligence sources said this WhatsApp channel is among the many they have been monitoring in Manipur.

Civil society organisations of the Kuki tribes claim the 10 men killed in the encounter were “village volunteers”, an allegation the police and other authorities have refuted strongly, pointing at the weapons brought by the militants and numerous bullet holes in a police SUV.

Political leaders across party lines have condemned the killing of women and children in Manipur. Most have said the latest incident was a terror attack considering it was not a skirmish between two communities in a riot-like situation, but a calculated, premeditated kidnapping operation with an intention to kill them.

The latest round of violence in Jiribam began on November 7 when suspected Meitei insurgents attacked a village of the Hmar tribe. A woman from the Hmar tribe was killed in the attack. Her husband in a police case alleged she was shot in the leg, raped and then set on fire by the suspected Meitei militants. Civil society groups of the Kuki tribes have accused the Manipur government of keeping silent on that attack.

The Manipur cabinet in a statement on November 16 had said “Kuki miscreants” burnt several houses and attacked Borobekra police station in Jiribam district on October 19. This attack and not the November 7 attack led to a fresh cycle of violence, sources have said.

The Manipur cabinet’s statement on November 16 said the following: On October 26, “Kuki miscreants” again set a house on fire at Moulkangthol village in the same district. On November 3, Jiribam police rescued a Vaiphei woman from Chandrapur Rani Veng Babupara and handed her over to her family. On November 7, a Hmar woman was killed and several houses were set on fire in Zairawn village by Meitei miscreants. The same day, Kuki miscreants attacked Mongbung Meitei village with bombs. On November 11, the CRPF effectively countered an armed offensive by Kuki militants on Borobekara police station which housed a relief camp, killing 11 militants. In the attack, two Meitei civilians were killed by the Kuki militants.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes between the Meitei community and the 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 Kukis who share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.