Manipur, a northeast Indian state, has been in non-stop ethnic violence and turmoil for over five months. Many people are in danger and fear of life.
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What’s the violence about?
There are two groups of people in Manipur; the first is the Meitei community, a majority group living in Imphal Valley constituting about 52% of the population of the state, and the other group is the Kuki community, a minority group living in the surrounding hills. Even though the Meitei community’s population is about 52%, they only hold 10% of the land in the state.
It all started on April 14, 2024, when the Meitei Tribe Union demanded the Schedule Tribe status for the Meitei community, which lives in Valley. On their petition, the Manipur High Court ordered the state government to send a recommendation letter to the central government for the inclusion of the Meitei community in ST. If ST status is granted to the Meitei community, they would be able to claim the lands of the hillside region where the Kuki people live.
The petition for ST status was gaining momentum, and to oppose the demands of the Meitei community for ST status, the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur organized a protest. A 60,000-strong crowd turned up for the protest, and soon after, the Meitei community and tribal protesters clashed with each other, and Violence erupted in Churachandpur, where the protest was being held. This clash marked the beginning of ethnic conflict.
Unrest and chaos everywhere
Since the beginning of the clashes in May, it’s been five months. In this period, according to Police Updates Statistics on the Manipur conflict, 175 people have died and many have been injured in the clashes. Many people were murdered, women were raped, houses and religious places were burned, chaos was everywhere, and people had to evacuate the area. To maintain the situation, police and armed forces were deployed, and the Internet had to be stopped.
The women are the least safe and had to beg the armed forces not to leave them due to fear of being raped and murdered. The two women paraded naked, surrounded by violent mobs, shocked and filled the nation with deep anger. Due to the continuous violence, many people had to leave their homes for safety. With many lives lost, the people have suffered much, and these are the agonies that they are left with.
The situation was under control for some time, but the killings started again, which brought the situation back to what it was before. Recently, in July, two students; Luwangbi Linthoingambi Hijam (17), a female student, and Phijam Hemanjit Singh (20), a male student, were abducted and murdered. The four murderers were recently arrested on October 1 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Their murders added fuel to the fire, and today, the situation is still the same.
Manipur gets international attention
The ethnic conflict had become so tense that even the United Nations had to interfere. The UN experts raised an alarm about the serious reports of serious human rights abuses, including acts of sexual violence, killings, destruction of property, torture, forced displacement, and ill-treatment.
The cries of the Christian community, a minority group, were heard by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which raised concerns about the burning of churches and the persecution of Christians. The issue was raised in the House of Commons, where one British MP described the atrocities against Christians as a “silent attack on Christians in India.” In the conflict, more than 249 churches have been destroyed.
Even many Hindu temples were destroyed in the ethnic conflict. No one is safe in Manipur, and the question that needs to be answered is: When will the violence stop, and when will there be peace?
