Premium

A plea for Manipur: Start building bridges now – or the traumas of years gone by will return in new guises

As a child, I lost my innocence during the insurgency years. If the country does not come together to mitigate the violence and deep scars we now carry, the Meitei and Kuki communities will be at odds for decades to come

Rapid Action Force personnel conduct a flag march amid ongoing violence in Manipur, in Imphal on Sunday night. (PTI Photo)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Written by Trishna Wahengbam

For three nights in a row, my college-going younger sister stood guard at our door with kitchen knives and rocks she collected to protect our parents in the face of attempted arson, loot, or worse, killing. My mentally-disabled 63-year-old mother, my 69-year-old father with physical ailments, and my sister — where do they run to? Who do they run to? Homes, businesses, and vehicles were torched less than 300 metres from my house. For the last several days, the air was thick with smoke and the sound of gunfire. Suddenly, Manipur went back in time to the days of the insurgency when as children, we were rushed inside our homes as soon as it was dark, spoke only in hushed voices, and our parents turned off the lights immediately after dinner. Despite these desperate measures, the insurgents still came demanding money or my father’s government-provided vehicle and other resources they could use. Sometimes, my parents would hide inside, and I, as a six-year-old, would step out to tell them that my parents were not home. The innocence of a child had become a shield to protect the family in the hope that the insurgents would take pity and show mercy.

Also in Express Opinion | Manipur riots: The chilling methods in the madness

The violence that began on April 27 in Churachandpur district opened deep faultlines between the Meiteis and Kukis. On May 4, I received video footage of armed mobs rioting on the streets from family members in Manipur. Every third person in that mob had a military weapon. Kuldeep Singh, the Security Advisor to the Manipur government, said the numbers of arms snatched from the security forces by the mobs are in the hundreds, including sophisticated weapons. As of May 6, official sources reported 54 deaths — unofficially, sources reported in the press placed the death toll at over a hundred and the number of injured at nearly 200.

Despite aerial surveillance and enhanced vigil by armed forces, curfew, Sections 355 and 144 imposed, and mobile and broadband internet shut, it will take many more days for communal violence to be extinguished in the state. Instances of arson and looting may have reduced, but rioters from both sides continue to hunt for people seeking refuge. Following the shoot-at-sight order, the Army column opened fire, killing five people in Churachandpur and Nambol districts after rioters obstructed the evacuation of the displaced.

It is ineffective to point fingers at each other. Precious lives have been lost, homes and properties of both groups torched to ashes, foundations of progress and learning set up by generations burnt to ashes. What have we done to each other?

In India, Meiteis and Kukis are two small groups in a resource-strapped border state far removed from the capital. In drought-hit Manipur, there is not enough water for even the fire brigades. With economic life at a standstill, people are trapped without food, drinking water, and medical supplies. 23,000 displaced people are said to have been rescued and given shelter in military garrisons. Over 1,000 have fled to Cachar district in Assam. The state could be plunged into the depths of extreme poverty.

Don't Miss from Express Opinion | Patricia Mukhim writes on Manipur conflict: Meiteis and the Kukis and Nagas have to learn to co-exist and resolve differences amicably

Economic recovery from this will take months, if not years. What the Centre and state do now will set the stage for the rest of the year. They play a critical role in resettling the displaced, resuscitating the economy, and ensuring peace in the state. Resettlement strategies and infrastructure depend on non-profit resettlement agencies and community connections, of which the latter has been ripped to shreds in Manipur. The Meitei majority government must work to establish trust between the two clashing communities. The Centre must help the state government chart strategic resettlement and rehabilitation reforms, be they organisational, technological or workforce related. Fundraisers for disasters, natural or man-made, are quickly set up. We have even set up several for the war in Ukraine but there has been none so far for India’s Manipur. Civil society organisations across the country must help build a network dedicated to funding the resources to rehabilitate the displaced. This can act as a supplement to the resources that will hopefully be provided by the Centre. Given the constraints of rife ongoing conflict, an immediate assessment must be carried out to understand the demands and applicable methods of implementation, after which reforms can be put in place.

In this rapidly shifting political landscape, the state government and stakeholders must be agile enough to adapt to new circumstances and challenges by revisiting decisions and finding new ways to meet the collective goal. In this process, the Centre should support the state as we work to gather ourselves. Local communities must be incentivised to become temporary homes for the displaced with external mechanisms for checks and supervision. There is not a moment to lose.

Neighbourhoods, schools, places of trade and business, recreational centres, etc. have always been integrated in Manipur. If the country does not come together to mitigate the violence and the heavy and deep scars we now carry, the Meitei and Kuki communities will no longer live or network or even interact with each other for decades to come. Both will only look at the other with suspicion. This torn social fabric will only rip further, giving rise to insurgency once again and more spilling of blood. This is a plea. Manipur must be saved before everything is lost.

A plea for Manipur: Start building bridges now – or the traumas of years gone by will return in new guises

As a child, I lost my innocence during the insurgency years. If the country does not come together to mitigate the violence and deep scars we now carry, the Meitei and Kuki communities will be at odds for decades to come

40 Years Ago

EXPRESS OPINION

Best of Express

Must Read

More Explained

Aug 13: Latest News