Guwahati/New Delhi:

A top official of Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) has requested the two communities in Manipur that have been fighting since May 2023 to stop violence and start dialogue for reconciliation, citing how Bodoland achieved peace after decades of unrest.

Pramod Boro, BTC chief executive member and president of the Assam-based United People’s Party Liberal, told NDTV the two communities will not achieve anything if they keep fighting.

He said Manipur had been peaceful for 10-15 years before the May 2023 violence broke out, and “will take decades to rebuild” what it lost in the ethnic conflict.

“I don’t know what they [two communities in Manipur] are thinking, but they have to understand fighting and communal conflict will not give them anything, whatever they are aiming for,” Mr Boro told NDTV.

“Before this [ethnic violence] happened, there was peace in Manipur for the last 10-15 years, because of which the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act was removed from many areas. Manipur was in national attention for its achievements in sports, literature, cultural matters, and many other things,” Mr Boro said. “After this conflict, I have seen that Manipur will need decades to rebuild what it lost. So they [the two communities] have to realise that fighting will not achieve anything.”

He cited the example of how Bodoland lost decades worth of development due to violence before the major peace deal, now known as the Bodo Peace Accord, was signed between the Centre, the Assam government and Bodo groups in January 2020.

Broadly, as part of the Bodo peace deal, members of the armed group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) were rehabilitated; issues linked to Bodo people living outside of the erstwhile Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) were settled; steps were taken to protect the Bodo’s social, cultural, linguistic and ethnic identities; legislative protection for the land rights of tribals were provided, and quick development of tribal areas was assured.

“If you keep fighting, the central government also sometimes becomes helpless. Bodoland already faced decades of violence and there was a huge loss which we can’t imagine now. So, I request our brothers and sisters in Manipur, please start reconciliation among your parties, your teams, your groups,” Mr Boro said.

“This is the only solution. I think the central government is ready to listen and help because in the Bodoland issue also, anytime when we demanded, the central government was always there to help. My request is to stop violence and start reconciliation, dialogue and discussion, find out the problems, the issues, and try to resolve it,” Mr Boro said.

Bodoland Peace Model In Manipur?

In Manipur, no leader has yet raised whether the Bodoland peace model can be replicated in the state due to the cross-border implications of the ethnic tension.

The Bodoland issue was landlocked. But the Manipur violence involves the Kuki tribes whose kindred tribes live in neighbouring Myanmar, where ethnic insurgents are fighting the junta. The Kuki tribes have objected to border fencing and any move to entirely scrap the free movement regime, which allows people from either side of the border to travel without passport and visa up to certain kilometres on both sides.

The Meitei community has alleged decades of the open-border policy with Myanmar have backfired, with illegal immigrants settling down and raising hundreds of new villages to call them ancestral land in due time. The Kuki tribes also follow the hereditary chieftainship system, under which village chiefs own massive tracts of land. Neighbouring Mizoram scrapped the chieftainship system.

Leaders of the Kuki tribes have refuted allegations the tribes have been sheltering illegal immigrants for demographic engineering. They have said powerful people in the valley want to grab their lands, and so made up the illegal immigrants story to scare people into becoming hostile.

Bodoland Development

Bodoland has been developing well in the last five years since the peace deal was signed, Mr Boro said, adding the very objective of the accord was to ensure peace and sustain it.

“Now we can see a transformation and fulfilment of the objectives of the accord we signed. Before that, the region was unstable with bloodshed and violence for almost four decades. After the agitation began [for a third time] for Bodoland statehood and the negotiations started, we tried to understand the issues from both sides. One was our aspiration, while the other was constitutional provisions.

“In between, there was negotiation with the government of India… the NDFB, the students’ union and other groups finally came together and tried to understand, connect with each other. Somehow we managed to understand aspirations, objectives, agenda of the movement… and came to a conclusion that unless we can resolve this issue, the Bodo people cannot see development, their economy, education and other aspects will suffer… We believed at that time that unless we signed the accord, we couldn’t think of our development,” Mr Boro told NDTV.

The past 5 years have brought unprecedented peace in our region. BTR is today a land of optimism and opportunity.#5YearsOfBodoAccord pic.twitter.com/nUacVGDk8i

— Pramod Boro (@PramodBoroBTR) January 29, 2025

In Manipur, the clashes between 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 killed over 250 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000. There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the valley.

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:

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh today blamed “some vested interests” for reigniting a new cycle of violence in the state, 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.

“Please delete this post. Manipur is in turmoil (sic) situation. It is very sensitive,” Mr Meghachandra replied to Mr Chidambaram, a request that the Congress MP seemed to have accepted as the post no longer remained on his timeline.

Mr Chidambaram’s comment is his personal observation and does not reflect the stand of the party, Congress leader and former Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh told reporters in Imphal today.

Shri Okram Ibobi, CLP leader along with other party leaders, spoke to the press today in Imphal to clarify the position of the party on the issue of regional autonomy. pic.twitter.com/0N8bytgvCI

— A. Bimol Akoijam (@Bimol_Akoijam) November 19, 2024

While the valley-dominant Meitei community has been seeking protection of Manipur’s territorial integrity, the Kuki tribes want a ‘separate administration’ comprising a large part of the hill areas in southern Manipur which shares a border with Myanmar (and some areas in the north), and the Nagas have had ambitions earlier to be united with all Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast region. The Kuki tribes share ethnic ties with people in Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram – both Manipur’s neighbours.

The Chief Minister, who has been battling ethnic fires in a fresh cycle of violence that broke out in the state’s Jiribam district that has so claimed over 19 lives including women and children, took strong exception to Mr Chidambaram’s swipe.

Mr Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2008 when he steered the highly controversial tripartite suspension of operations (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 told news agency ANI in the state capital Imphal on Tuesday. 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.

“The present crisis is not an ethnic conflict. It is a problem of illegal immigration from Myanmar with drugs and them trying to control the indigenous people of Manipur, and in the entire northeast. I find it funny to see his (Mr Chidambaram’s) comment. I want to remind him, with these photographs, why he allowed these foreigners to enter India, to enter Manipur and even sign suspension of operations agreement with underground groups of illegal immigrants,” the Chief Minister said.

“He (Mr Chidambaram) and the Congress created the crisis. What we are facing today in Manipur is their creation. They cannot wash off their hands easily. People do understand, whatever is happening in Manipur is a chronic problem created by Congress and Chidambaram himself. Here are the photographs,” Mr Singh said, adding allegations and propaganda by national leaders should stop.

“I want to appeal to him, do not play more destructive games to destabilise Manipur and the entire northeast. Congress leaders should look at themselves that happened in Manipur during their time. How many were killed in fake encounters? There are 1,500 cases of Manipur fake encounter cases in the Supreme Court… Chidambaram himself came, gave recognition to a foreigner and signed the SoO agreement. You started the work of bringing illegal immigrants from Myanmar. You cannot escape,” Mr Singh said.

Those who have been tracking the Manipur ethnic violence say the SoO agreement is at the heart of the current crisis, apart from frictions over sharing land and resources, and tussle over political representation.

Ibobi Singh, the former Manipur Chief Minister, in the state assembly on March 1 admitted that the Assam Rifles and Kuki-Zo insurgent groups signed an agreement in 2005 – without informing the state government.

“The two signed the agreement without the knowledge of the Manipur government. The police continued to arrest the insurgents, and in 2008 the formal SoO with the state government’s participation was signed,” Ibobi Singh told the assembly. The state government discovered the existence of the 2005 “ceasefire” agreement when, during police operations against Kuki-Zo insurgents, the state forces were often requested to stand down, he said.

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

The Manipur assembly on February 29 unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to scrap the SoO agreement with some 25 Kuki-Zo insurgent groups. The deadline for extension of the SoO agreement ended the same day. Whether the SoO agreement has been renewed is not known. The deaths of 10 “militants” in Manipur’s Jiribam in an encounter with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) may give some clues.

Broadly, the SoO agreement says the insurgents are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly.

The 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.

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 National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) has been in talks with the Centre for over two decades, only one Meitei militant group faction has agreed to sign a deal with the Centre i.e. the United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P).

At least eight Meitei militant groups that are fighting to break away from India are in the Centre’s banned organisations’ list.

The only time any authority in Manipur admitted to the involvement of insurgent groups of both the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes was on September 9, after five bodies were found following a fierce gunfight. Three of the bodies were confirmed as Kuki insurgents from Churachandpur district; the fourth was identified as a Kuki volunteer from Jiribam; the fifth was identified as a member of the Meitei insurgent group United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P), the police had said in a statement.

The three Kuki insurgents were members of the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), a signatory of the SoO agreement. The UNLF(P), too, had signed a ceasefire deal with the Centre and the state government. The UNLF is the oldest Meitei insurgent group, which later broke up into two factions; the Pambei faction signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Centre and the state government in November 2023.

Kuki leaders have alleged the Manipur Chief Minister is responsible for starting violence with his rhetoric on illegal immigrants and poppy cultivation. A purported leaked tape of Mr Singh, submitted to a Home Ministry inquiry committee by some witnesses, which allegedly proved his direct role in the violence, will be taken up by the Supreme Court in the next hearing on November 25. In the last hearing, the Supreme Court told the petitioner to bring the material for checking.

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.

New Delhi:

The central and the state governments must restore peace in violence-hit Manipur quickly and rebuild the destroyed homes of internally displaced people, according to students from the northeast who participated at a peaceful protest in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Tuesday.

They raised their voice against attempts to divide Manipur. Some of the placards read “no separate administration,” “peaceful coexistence for everyone,” “save territorial integrity of Manipur”, etc which are the common themes in the Manipur crisis.

The MLAs, civil society organisations, and ceasefire-linked insurgent groups of the Kukis tribes dominant in some hill areas of Manipur have been speaking in the same language in demanding what they call a “separate administration” carved out of Manipur.

The disruptions caused by the ethnic violence that began in May 2023 have deeply affected young people in the state, the organisers of the “Save Manipur” protest said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Manipur’s peace and harmony are of paramount importance, and must be prioritised. The indigenous people must maintain unity by setting aside differences introduced as a result of the British occupation. Elements that seek to create anti-national sentiments must not be allowed to succeed. The Indian national interest and the interests of Manipur’s indigenous people are one and the same,” historian and geopolitical analyst Abhijit Chavda, who was one of the six speakers at the protest, told the gathering.

READ | Video: Displaced Families In Violence-Hit Manipur Move Into Newly Built Housing Complex

Mr Chavda drew attention to the crisis in neighbouring Myanmar and its spillover effects in the northeast region, especially in Manipur and Mizoram, which is just across Myanmar’s Chin State.

Colonel Kishore Chand (retired) said government agencies have been working tirelessly to help families of people killed in the clashes, thousands of internally displaced people, and those who were injured in the violence.

“We are confident that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes will be brought to book and justice will be delivered to the wronged,” he said.

The four others also spoke on the theme of keeping Manipur’s territorial integrity intact; they are Colonel Shanti Kumar Sapam (retired), social activists Elizabeth Kh and Rajshree Kumari, and Delhi University Assistant Professor Dr M Ojit Kumar Singh.

Ms Kumari thanked the students for taking the initiative to hold the protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital – the first by a student body from the Meitei community since May 2023 – and asked them to focus on what is at stake and protect it at all cost.

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

While the protest was organised by the Manipur Innovative Youth Organisation (MAIYOND) and the United Kakching Students (UNIKAS) Delhi, they said the North East Students’ Society from Delhi University gave support in solidarity. A representative of the NE Students’ Society said students from this region of the country should stay united when they are away from home.

Hundreds of students from northeast states, cutting across communities and tribes, came to the protest at Jantar Mantar to show support, the organisers said. “MIAYOND and UNIKAS stand firm in our position that any form of division, whether territorial or ideological, only serves to weaken the fabric of society,” they said in the statement.

The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation. There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei-dominated valley. The clashes have 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, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

Nearly two dozen Kuki-Zo insurgent groups that have signed the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government, Kuki groups such as the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), and Kuki MLAs have been demanding the same thing – a separate administration. This demand has brought all of them on the same stage.

Imphal:

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 has said at a side event of the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

Manipur is seeing the growth of divisive forces that play the cards of myopic ethnicity leading to the undermining of historical and legal foundations of the state’s pluralistic demography and territoriality, said Dr Arambam Noni, associate professor at Imphal-based DM University.

“Due to the increasing weaponization of ethnicity by a section of elites and academics, as seen in the case of an exclusive narrative for a Kuki Lebensraum in India-Myanmar-Bangladesh region, there is an apparent design to proliferate inter-ethnic tension as an instrument to segregate people exclusively on ethnic lines,” Dr Noni said.

He said such ethno-centric claims were not only obsolete, but also Balkanized the multicultural polities and undermined democratic foundations of modern states. “There is a need for discouraging ethnocentric claims and politics,” he added.

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, and the valley-dominant Meitei community have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights, political representation, and share of state finance. The conflict has killed over 220 people and internally displaced some 50,000.

The tension in Manipur is a byproduct of ethnic weaponization and a desire to sanitise demography in favour of exclusive ethnic homelands, Dr Noni said, adding transborder factors such as drugs trade, shifting of massive poppy cultivation from Myanmar to Manipur, human-trafficking, displacement due to turmoil in Myanmar, and congregation of new ethnic groups in Manipur had played significant roles in
escalating inter-ethnic anxieties in the state.

Dr Noni highlighted what he alleged were dangers of weaponizing ethnicity for the reason that in the name of “ethnic homelands”, micro tribes in the India-Myanmar border region were either suppressed or coerced to submit to the dominant ethnic ambitions. He appealed for urgent restoration of normalcy in Manipur.

The internally displaced people from both communities in Manipur are yet to return home. The 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs and Kuki civil society groups have said talks are not possible unless Chief Minister N Biren Singh quits. The Kuki tribes also blame him for allegedly starting the Manipur crisis; they have reinforced this allegation with the leaked tapes controversy.

Kuki leaders have demanded a political solution in the form of a separate administration before any other issues, including the return of thousands of people living in relief camps, can be discussed. Meitei leaders have cited this condition to allege that Kuki leaders are engineering an ethnocentric homeland demand; their 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.

At the Geneva event, Khuraijam Athouba, working president of the civil society group International Peace and Social Advancement, alleged several Chin-Kuki insurgent groups have transnational origins.

The session was moderated by Dr Elangbam Bishwajeet, visiting professor at Britain’s Aston University. The other speakers were human rights defender Punam Duhotia and Dilara Malique, adviser to the Swiss Bangladesh Women Association.

Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh today called a meeting of all MLAs to discuss the situation in the violence-hit state and the rescue of two men kidnapped by who he claimed were “Kuki militants”.

A video has been shared widely on social media where two men from the valley-dominant Meitei community were seen asking the Chief Minister to “save our lives”. The two men, in white T-shirts, also asked Mr Singh to agree to the demand of their kidnappers immediately.

NDTV could not independently verify the video.

“… Addressed the current situation in the state particularly focusing on the rescue of the abduction of two innocent youths by Kuki militants. We condemn such heinous acts and our government is working to secure the safe release of the victims,” Mr Singh said in posts on X and Facebook.

READ | Manipur High Court Cancels ‘Default Bail’ Granted To Man Charged Under UAPA In “Republic Of Kukiland” Case

Three men from the Meitei community had gone to participate at an army recruitment event when they were kidnapped, the parents of one of the three men who the army rescued yesterday told local media.

The security forces could not trace the other two yesterday, Manipur Police sources told NDTV. They declined to give details about the demand raised by the kidnappers, citing operational security.

The kidnappers thrashed the rescued man, identified as Ningombam Johnson Singh, police sources said, adding his cheeks had swelled, his body had multiple bruises and his hand had a wound that needed to be bandaged.

The two missing men have been identified as Oinam Thoithoi Singh and Thokchom Thoithoiba Singh. Their parents have on social media appealed to the kidnappers to release them unharmed.

Social media posts by members of the Meitei community alleged the kidnappers have demanded the release of Mark Thangmang Haokip, 39, who the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested on May 30, 2022 on charges of waging war against India and working against the nation to create an “independent Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Kukiland”, according to the First Information Report (FIR).

Police sources have not confirmed this alleged demand being widely circulated on social media.

If the demand for Mark Thangmang Haokip to be freed from the NIA, however, turns out to be true, then the kidnappers can be considered to be hardcore militants, and should not be misidentified as ‘village defence volunteers’ of the Kuki tribes in the context of the Manipur ethnic violence, sources said.

READ | Manipur Oil Leak Accident Or Sabotage? Some Unanswered Questions

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/Guwahati:

The Kuki-Zo tribes in Manipur have asked their community to be vigilant between September 26 and 29, days after the Manipur Security Adviser confirmed in a press conference that some “900 Kuki militants” trained in jungle warfare and use of weaponised drones have entered the violence-hit state from neighbouring Myanmar.

The Kuki Inpi Manipur in a statement refuted the allegations of infiltration from Myanmar, and alleged the intelligence report confirmed by the Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh was baseless and part of a larger narrative, possibly intended to justify aggression against the Kuki-Zo tribes.

“All Kuki-Zo people are urged to refrain from organising or attending public events until September 28, 2024, to prevent any possible escalation of violence,” the Kuki Inpi Manipur said, apart from calling a complete shutdown in areas in Manipur where the Kuki tribes are dominant.

The Kuki Inpi Manipur said it plans to hold a press conference on September 28 to reveal what it claims are the “ulterior motives of the state government and certain radical Meitei groups”.

Meitei civil society groups, responding to what they called “fear mongering” by Kuki groups, alleged the foreign militants who the intelligence report had flagged could attack Meitei villages in the foothills.

“When the security forces retaliate, it will give the Kuki militants and their frontal groups an opportunity to claim Kukis have been attacked by Meiteis… The Manipur Security Adviser clearly said his statement is based on an intelligence report. He has no obligation to anyone to explain confidential details about an intelligence report,” the civil society organisation Meitei Heritage Society (MHS) said in a statement.

READ | “100% Correct”: Manipur Security Adviser On Intelligence Report “900 Kuki Militants” Entered From Myanmar

Many distinct tribes such as Thadou and Hmar come under Manipur’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) list, one of which also includes a catch-all nomenclature called ‘Any Kuki Tribes’, re-added in 2003 after its deletion in 1956.

The Meitei Heritage Society said organisations that represent the Kuki-Zo tribes in Manipur’s Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts use the term “tribal” despite numerous other tribes not being part of these organisations or involved in the ethnic violence.

“It must be noted that the Nagas and other tribes are not part of these groups and have publicly rebuked them for deliberately using the word ‘tribal’ to mislead people into assuming it means ‘all tribals’ in Manipur,” the Meitei Heritage Society said.

On September 20, sources had said the intelligence report was sent to all Senior Superintendents of Police in the districts along the India-Myanmar border in southern Manipur. The report mentioned that “900 Kuki militants, newly trained in use of drone-based bombs, projectles, missiles and jungle warfare have entered Manipur from Myanmar”, sources had said.

Responding to a question on the intelligence report, the Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh had said, “Unless and until it is proved wrong, we believe that it is 100 per cent correct. Because any intelligence input you have to take 100 per cent correct and prepare for that. If it doesn’t come true, then there are two things. Either it didn’t happen at all, or because of your efforts it didn’t happen. You cannot take it lightly.”

READ | Video: Standoff Between Armoured Vehicle And Suspected Insurgents In Manipur’s Moreh

Ethnic armed groups in Myanmar’s Chin State and other areas have been fighting the junta, and have taken large parts of the country which the junta earlier controlled. Some of the fighting has taken place close to the border with India, with instances of some junta troops fleeing into India after Chin State rebels overran them.

The Manipur government has long maintained that the ethnic violence in the state was a direct result of a huge spike in the population of illegal immigrants – among other factors – in southern Manipur, which shares a border with Chin State and the Sagaing Region.

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:

The Manipur government has asked the police to hand over the case of attack on the ancestral house of a key Thadou tribe leader and BJP spokesperson to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The state government in a letter to the police chief said the case filed over the attack on the house of T Michael Lamjathang Haokip in Churachandpur district, where his elderly parents and some internally displaced people live, should be forwarded to the NIA as soon as possible.

“In view of the serious nature of the matter, DGP (Director General of Police), Manipur is kindly requested to submit the proposal for forwarding this case to the NIA at the earliest,” the state government said.

NDTV has seen a copy of the letter.

Mr Haokip’s house was vandalised and set on fire in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur on August 31 in the third attack at his house since the Meitei-Kuki ethnic violence began in May 2023. The attack happened on a day the Kuki tribes held protests against Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who they said was responsible for the crisis, citing a leaked audio tape which the state government had called “doctored”.

Six days earlier, on August 25, over two dozen people, some of them armed, had vandalised Mr Haokip’s house and also fired shots in the air.

In a first information report (FIR), Mr Haokip had named 15 people as “directly or indirectly” responsible for the attack on his property and family. He also named two people who allegedly asked members of a WhatsApp group to kill him. One of the two promised to give “village land” to anyone who kills the state BJP spokesperson.

Mr Haokip has said the attacks and threats came as a result of him raising awareness about his tribe, Thadou, being inaccurately referred to as a Kuki tribe amid the ethnic tension in Manipur.

READ | “Kill Him, Will Give My Land…”: Manipur BJP Spokesperson’s FIR Over Death Threats, Attack On House

Mr Haokip, the Thadou Community International (TCI) and the Thadou Students’ Association (TSA-GHQ), of which he is a key leader, have sought to draw attention to the tribe’s “inaccurate” reference by leaders and the media, and to spread awareness that “the Thadou tribe is distinct and any confusion with other tribes surmount to being racist, abusive, disrespectful, traumatising and it puts the Thadou tribe in poor light”.

“… There’s hope the perpetrators’ intentions and masterminds will be exposed, and justice will be served to all the victims of the horrible crime and injustice, including Michael Lamjathang, his family and Peniel villagers,” the TSA said in a statement on Friday, welcoming the decision of the Manipur government to hand over the investigation to the NIA.

Letter To Kuki National Organisation (KSO)

The TSA on September 15 wrote to the heads of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), seeking their cooperation in identifying suspects who attacked Mr Haokip’s house twice last month. TSA spokesperson Vicky Thadou in the letter said that Peniel village, where Mr Haokip’s senior citizen parents live in their ancestral house, falls within the operational area of KNO, and are dominated by KNA, KNFMC, KNF-S, KNF-Z, and KLA – the five constituents of the KNO.

“… We hold the KNO and the local civil organisations morally responsible for the attacks,” the TSA said in the letter addressed to the KNO president and vice presidents.

The Kuki National Front (Samuel), or KNF(S), in a statement refuted the TSA’s allegation and requested people to “stay away from this misinformation and blatant accusation.” “… The blatant accusation that the incident took place within the operational area of the organisation is nothing, but the act of tarnishing the image and reputation of KNF(S),” the KNF(S) said in a statement, referring to the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement.

The TSA in the statement on Friday acknowledged the KNF(S)’s response and pointed out that only one of five armed groups under the KNO has responded.

“… The fact that other groups have neither condemned the repeated terror attacks nor clarified on the matter only strengthen the suspicion of their involvement in the attacks, which would clearly amount to gross violation of the ground rules of the Suspension of Operations agreement between the groups and the government,” the TSA said.

The KNO is one of the two umbrella organisations of 23 Kuki-Zomi-Hmar insurgent groups that have signed the controversial tripatriate SoO agreement with the state government and the Centre. The other is the United People’s Front (UPF). The KNO and the UPF represent these 23 Kuki-Zomi-Hmar insurgent groups.

Broadly, the SoO agreement says the insurgents are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly. Every year, a joint monitoring group reviews the SoO agreement and decides whether to end or renew it. The agreement lapsed on February 29 this year – the same day the Manipur assembly unanimously passed a resolution asking the Centre to scrap the agreement. The 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs did not attend the assembly session.

The Manipur government has alleged some Kuki insurgents who are part of the SoO agreement have been participating in the ethnic conflict, thus violating the ground rules.

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

Leaders of the Kuki tribes have also accused the state government headed by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who is from the valley-dominant Meitei community, of looking the other way when insurgents of the Meitei group United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P), allegedly participated in the violence. The UNLF(P) last year signed a peace deal with the Centre and the state government, after which its personnel came overground.

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/Guwahati/New Delhi:

The Security Adviser to the Manipur government today for the first time publicly confirmed they have received an intelligence report that alerted about the entry of “900 Kuki militants” trained in jungle warfare and use of weaponised drones to Manipur from neighbouring Myanmar. The intelligence report cannot be taken lightly, Manipur Security Adviser Kuldiep Singh told reporters today.

The intelligence report was sent to all Senior Superintendents of Police in the districts along the India-Myanmar border in southern Manipur, top intelligence sources told NDTV, requesting anonymity. The report, sent on Thursday, mentioned that “900 Kuki militants, newly trained in use of drone-based bombs, projectles, missiles and jungle warfare have entered Manipur from Myanmar”, the sources said.

The “Kuki militants” are believed to be grouped in units of 30 members each and at present are scattered in the periphery, the intelligence sources told NDTV, adding they may launch multiple coordinated attacks on Meitei villages in the last week of September.

In the press conference today, Mr Singh said they believe the report to be “100 per cent correct”.

“Unless and until it is proved wrong, we believe that it is 100 per cent correct. Because any intelligence input you have to take 100 per cent correct and prepare for that. If it doesn’t come true, then there are two things. Either it didn’t happen at all, or because of your efforts it didn’t happen. You cannot take it lightly,” Mr Singh told reporters.

Ethnic armed groups in Myanmar’s Chin State and other states have been fighting the junta, and have taken large parts of the country which the junta earlier controlled. Some of the fighting has taken place close to the border with India, with instances of some junta troops fleeing into India after Chin State rebels overran them.

READ | Row Over Assam Rifles Ex Chief’s “Meitei Police, Kuki Police” Comment; Cops Say “Myopic Mindset”

The Manipur government has long maintained that the ethnic violence in the state was a direct result of a huge spike in the population of illegal immigrants – among other factors – in southern Manipur, which shares a border with Chin State and the Sagaing Region.

In January, on a question about attacks on police commandos in Manipur’s border trading town Moreh, the Security Adviser had denied the involvement of Myanmar-based militants. He had, however, admitted there was a possibility that Myanmar militants might have come, though there was no evidence then.

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.

No Value Of Agreements?

The involvement of overground insurgents from both communities in the Manipur clashes was confirmed recently by the police after a gunfight in Jiribam district, neighbouring Assam.

Three Kuki insurgents who were killed in the gunfight were members of the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), whose two factions are part of the two umbrella Kuki-Zo groups that have signed the controversial tripatriate Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement – a sort of ceasefire – with the state government and the Centre.

A member of the Meitei insurgent group United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF(P), was also killed in the Jiribam gunfight. The UNLF is the oldest Meitei insurgent group, which later broke up into two factions; the Pambei faction signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Centre and the state government in November 2023.

READ | “Prosecute Manipur Chief Minister”: 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs To Probe Panel On ‘Audio Clip’ Leak Row

India-Myanmar Border Fencing

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said fencing work had been completed in 30 km of the porous India-Myanmar border in the Manipur section.

The Cabinet Committee on Security has, in principle, approved the construction of border fencing and roads along the 1,643-km international border between India and Myanmar at an approximate cost of Rs 31,000 crore.

The India-Myanmar border passes through Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The Union Home Minister said India has scrapped the Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows people living close to the border to go 16 km into each other’s territory without any documents. Foreigners can enter from Myanmar using the standard method i.e. with visas, Mr Shah had said.

Imphal:

On the completion of the Modi 3.0 government today, the Centre has taken a significant step toward addressing the challenges faced by the people in Manipur. They have been enduring prolonged unrest for over 16 months.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a programme to provide essential commodities at affordable prices. The initiative involves extending the Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB) facilities to people in the violence-hit state.

This was seen as one of the methods the Centre used to resolve the Manipur crisis.

In Manipur’s Torbung, people queued up to buy essentials at a discounted price shop. This area is on the border of the Meitei-dominant valley area Bishnupur and Kuki-dominant hill district Churachandpur. The violence in May 2023 began in these parts.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) unit posted there to keep both the communities away from confrontation had a new task at hand on Wednesday – roll out the mobile canteens on wheel, a key decision by the Centre on completion of 100 days of Modi 3.0.

This facility enables the people to buy essentials at highly subsidised prices from canteens of central forces.

On MHA’s initiative, CRPF is glad to open its Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB) from today at total 15 unit locations in Imphal, Kangpokpi, Bishnupur, Jiribam, Chudachandpur, Senapati and others districts for the people of Manipur to enable them to purchase commodities at… pic.twitter.com/f8F8DE9bge

— CRPF (@crpfindia) September 17, 2024

“We will organise this canteen on wheels in all the villages that are in our area of operation. The CRPF is in Manipur now and with the welfare of people as our aim, we are going to villages with daily use items,” Mani G Nair, a CRPF officer in Torbung, told NDTV.

John Vaiphei, a resident, said, “This is the first welcome step to build support for the local population, considering the hardships people in the sensitive zones have been facing. We hope they (mobile canteens) come frequently.”

The Border Security Force (BSF) in a post on X said it is proud to serve locals through three existing KPK bhandars and seven newly opened outlets.

Under MHA initiative to provide commodities at affordable prices to the people of Manipur from today, BSF is proud to serve the locals through 3 existing KPK Bhandars and 7 newly opened outlets.#JaiHind#IndiasFirstLineOfDefencepic.twitter.com/uUTohAZE9N

— BSF (@BSF_India) September 17, 2024

Introduced by the MHA in 2006, the KPKB system was designed to supply essential goods at concessional prices to serving and retired personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). In the backdrop of the turmoil in Manipur, the facility has been extended to benefit the local population, ensuring that essential goods are available at fair prices, despite the restrictions on travel and supplies caused by the unrest.

“The Centre and the state government have come together to start this process. The MHA issued orders to start 16 outlets, eight each in the valley and hill districts. These are in addition to the already running 21 KPKB outlets in the state. These outlets have started supplying goods to the local population,” Manipur Home Commissioner Ashok Kumar said.

The state government has also launched mobile sales units, providing essential items such as rice, potatoes, onions, pulses, cooking oil, and salt in 16 centres.

“Prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed, and many items are scarce. This new KPKB outlet ensures easy access to essential goods at lower prices than in the market. It is a highly commendable move,” a resident in Imphal East’s Lamlai, Sorokkaibam Inaocha Meitei, told NDTV.

People displaced by the ethnic violence from both communities have welcomed the Centre’s move, which appears set to help win trust for starting a larger peace-building process.

With BM Sunzu in Lamlai, and K Mangte in Kangvai.