‘Mute spectators’: Bishnupur women block security forces after fresh violence in Manipur villages

Armed with sticks & slingshots, hundreds of women guard their villages in Bishnupur district. Earlier in the day, a man was killed in violence that saw abandoned Kuki, Meitei homes torched.

Women blocking main road connecting Imphal to Bishnupur & Churachandpur | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Sonal Matharu, The Print, 24 May, 2023, Bishnupur: Hundreds of women from Meitei villages Wednesday blocked the entry of central armed forces to the Kwakta region of Manipur’s Bishnupur district, where a man was killed and another was injured in violence that erupted early morning.

Seething and armed with sticks and slingshots, the women, dressed in traditional attire and carrying placards, screamed at the men in uniform, urging them to go back.

“We will leave, what will happen then? Will things go back to normal?” a Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel asked as he tried to negotiate with the women.

“You broke our trust. We let you in for our protection,” said one of the women, to which the jawan responded: “Give us one more chance. We have come for you.”

But the women did not budge. As it began to drizzle, they opened their umbrellas and squatted on the road, determined not to let any vehicles pass.

Ultimately, the security forces had to turn back.

RAF personnel interacting with protesting women | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

This resentment against the central security forces was a fallout of the violence earlier in the day that saw abandoned houses of both Meitei and Kuki communities torched in the Kwakta region. Curfew relaxations between 5 am and 4 pm in Bishnupur, Imphal East and Imphal West were cancelled after Wednesday’s incident. 

A Muslim-dominated region, Kwakta still has small pockets of Meitei and Kuki villages. Kwakta is located close to Torbung, which has been the epicentre of violence since the tensions between the hill and the valley people first flared earlier this month. 

According to villagers and sources in the local administration, tensions flared when a few abandoned homes of Meiteis were burnt down in Tronglaobi village. Soon after that, Kuki houses were also torched in the nearby Tuisenphai village.

The deceased has been identified as Toijam Chandramani, 40, a resident of Churachandpur, who was at a relief camp in Moirang, located close to both Tronglaobi and Tuisenphai. He along with a few other men had stepped out as news of the violence in the region spread, when a stray bullet hit him. Another person who was living in the same camp sustained injuries. 

Chandramani was rushed to a private hospital in Imphal, where he passed away. His body was later shifted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal.

Meanwhile, at a press briefing, the state government’s security advisor Kuldiep Singh said, “At around midnight, some armed miscreants came down from the hill side towards Molngat foothill (Tronglaobi) and burned around three houses. In the aftermath, many houses belonging to rival communities were burned or damaged. The houses were abandoned and many of them had already been damaged or burned partially earlier.”

Women at site of blockade | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

He added that Chandramani was shot at by “suspected armed militants from the hill side” at around 9.30 am in the Thamnapokpi foothills. 

“A large number of villagers came out and gathered at Moirang Lamkhai and tried to stop all the vehicles of security forces. Large numbers of people also created a law and order situation. Two additional companies of RAF and other forces rushed to the spot and controlled the situation,” said Singh.

Though the Army, Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police personnel are stationed in the Valley district of Bishnupur, more were sent after the early morning clashes. 

However, the Meitei women who blocked their entry claimed that the security forces become “mute spectators” whenever violence breaks out.

RAF personnel at site of blockade | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

“Till today we allowed the forces to go into our villages hoping they would protect us. It has been more than 20 days. But they are not here for us. Now, we don’t want them. Why are they not protecting civilians?” asked Irom Namita Devi from Thinungei village.

Ever since violence first broke out in Manipur, men in groups have been guarding their respective villages’ entry points along the stretch to Churachandpur, which saw the most destruction. But Wednesday’s clashes brought the women out on the road in such large numbers for the first time. The men, the women said, stay up at night and keep watch.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)