Family in middle of Manipur warzone, says worried daughter in B'luru

Leah Valentina D’Souza | NT

Bengaluru: “My family has had difficulty contacting us, which is worrisome because they're in the middle of a warzone. At a time when they need money, we haven't been able to send them some because there is no Internet connectivity," laments Kimboi Thomte, daughter of an influential figure of the Kuki Zo community in Churachandpur with regard to the protests in Manipur over rights, representation and identity.

The Manipur High Court's decision to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the non-tribal Meitei population in May sparked protests in Manipur. A cold war has been going on between these two communities (Meities and Kukis) for over a decade now.

“It's been a threat from them to cleanse us from Manipur for a long time now… just silent, unspoken threats. We protested against this here on May 3. It was a peaceful protest against the government, so they don’t hurt the civilians, but some Meiteis took it to heart and a few goons from their community started torching our villages. The state government hasn't helped the tribals as much as it helped the Meitei people,” Thomte told News Trail.

"With the government shutting down Internet, it has become extremely difficult to contact our dear ones or even know about their well-being," said another person from the Kuki Zo community who presently lives in Bengaluru. With non-consensual attempts of acquiring land from the tribal people in the guise of forest reservation, the cause of the conflict stems from how the Kuki community's only benefits are derived from the ST status.

“If they claim that too, our land and representation in political environments are in danger”, another person from the community who didn't want to be named said. Amid this conflict, fleeing is not an option for the Kuki tribal people because they intend to stay back and protect their land. However, some people who are frustrated with the situation and want to earn their livelihood have fled Imphal.

Further, enquiring about the Kuki’s perspective on this conflict “they can't do anything all day and night with the curfew in place. My cousin's family went to Mizoram”, revealed Thomte. Army camps have been set up to offer refuge to the tribal people. Some of them were ambushed by Meitei militants, which forced the tribal people to escape into forests.

“Those privileged enough fled in flights or cars”. The situation in Manipur has worsened since the initial protests, with tribal folk demanding a separate administration and president's rule to put an end to the violence in the state.