Imphal/New Delhi:
Civilian buses escorted by the security forces resumed trips across districts in Manipur today amid protests by the Kuki tribes, who want no free movement until their demand for a separate administration carved out of the state is met.
Visuals show mine-resistant vehicles leading the way in ploughing through blockades in Kangpokpi district, 45 km from the state capital Imphal.
A protester died of bullet injuries in Kangpokpi district, Kuki groups said in messages shared with the media. Over two dozen were injured, they said.
Several women from the Kuki tribes who tried to block the highway were injured when the security forces lathi-charged them.
The Centre announced there should be no road blockades anywhere from today in the state that came under President’s rule, following the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
Clashes with security forces have also been reported from other Kuki-dominated areas in Manipur. Visuals shared by locals show protesters throwing stones at vehicles, digging up roads, burning tyres, and putting up barricades. Some hurled expletives at the security forces and screamed at them to turn back.
Two state transport buses were attacked in Kangpokpi and Senapati districts though they were escorted by security forces, officials said.
The Churachandpur-bound bus that left the state capital Imphal without any passenger reached Kangvai after passing through Bishnupur, officials said, adding there was no obstruction on the way. Unlike Kangpokpi, Churachandpur remained relatively peaceful, officials said.
The Churachandpur-based Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) in a statement said it expressed strong condemnation of the Centre’s decision “to impose free movement, as the government was fully aware of the potential for violence if such a decision is put into action.”
The KZC said an indefinite shutdown has been called in areas where Kuki-Zo tribes are dominant.
“… the ‘free movement’ initiative of the government will be staunchly opposed until a political solution for the Kuki-Zo community is reached for lasting peace in the region. The KZC cannot guarantee free movement of Meiteis across buffer zones and cannot take responsibility for any untoward incidents,” KZC chairman Henlianthang Thanglet said in the statement.
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. Over 250 have died in the violence and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced.
Kuki leaders, nearly two dozen militant groups that have signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement, and their frontal civil organisations have demanded the Centre give them a separate administration before allowing communities to move freely across Manipur.
Meitei organisations have questioned why thousands of internally displaced people living in relief camps are threatened by the Kuki tribes from returning home to rebuild their lives, when talks can go on simultaneously.
While Kuki-Zo groups 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 pointed at decades-old evidence of Kuki groups working to form ‘Kukiland’ carved out of Manipur.
The World Kuki-Zo Intellectual Council (WKZIC) in a memorandum to Manipur’s new Governor on January 15 said the Kuki tribes have been demanding a state “since 1946-47.”
In the years before May 2023, Kuki protests, gatherings and academic discussions have mentioned the demand for a separate area carved out of Manipur.
