Nov 23, 2024 13:29 IST First published on: Nov 22, 2024 at 15:24 IST
Written by L Lam Khan Piang
Fresh escalation of violence in Manipur since November 16 continues to keep the state on the boil. Imphal has been shaken by the recent discovery of six bodies, believed to be of those who were missing since November 11. One wonders why the Chief Minister has still not been sacked, even after audio clips implicating him in the violence surfaced. The irate mob vented their anger toward their representatives and ransacked and burnt down their houses.
This escalation was a continuation of the June attack on Vengnuam Dibong Khunou, a hill tribes village where several houses and a church were burnt down and a man was kidnapped by the Arambai Tenggol. Houses were burnt down at Zairawn village in early November, where a mother of three from a Hmar tribe was killed.
This may not be the result of the replacement of the Assam Rifles by the CRPF but one does wonder about it. The Assam Rifles were doing well since the beginning of the violence in guarding and maintaining the buffer zone that was established after the exchange of population and segregation on ethnic lines. But the valley-based CSOs did not appreciate their efficiency in not letting valley-based militants infiltrate the hills, so they demanded they be replaced by the CRPF. The hill tribes protested against it, but to no avail. They feared that the CRPF would be used in the same way the police commandos were used to break through the village defence and allow infiltration beyond the buffer zones. Immediately after the November 11 violence between the police and the Hmars, there was a fresh order, however, from the Ministry of Home Affairs for the deployment of more companies of CAPFs (CRPF-159 Ex-Assam) & BSF-05 (Ex-Tripura).
There is reason to be sceptical about the sincerity of the state and the central government in bringing peace as the security forces were never empowered to bring normalcy. Instead, many compromises have been made, such as the handing over of arrested cadres from terrorist organisations such as KYKL, including their leader Uttam, to local leaders in June last year.
The fresh escalation of violence raises certain pertinent questions: Is it that the Government of India (GoI) is looking at the source of violence in the wrong place? Is the inaction of the Government of Manipur encouraging Meitei militants, including the Arambai Tenggol?
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Manipur’s MLAs have taken certain resolutions on November 18. One is for the central government to review the extension of AFSPA in the valley districts. They also resolved to start a mass operation against militants responsible for the killing of six innocent women and children.
It is imperative that the GoI avoids deploying security personnel belonging to local communities so that there is no conflict of interest. This is crucial for building trust and preventing further escalation of violence. Instead, it should be ensured that everyone is confined to their designated areas and restricted from crossing the buffer zone until the Centre comes up with a solution to bring peace.
The writer is professor, Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad.
