Weapons of Chinese origin surface in Manipur

NIRMALYA BANERJEE, EOI, KOLKATA, JULY 15,, 2023 : Weapons made in China have surfaced in Manipur in the course of the on-going ethnic violence in the State, adding to the concern of security forces. A mix of personal weapons like rifles, nearly 10,000 of them, is believed to be in circulation in the beleaguered state, according to security forces.

It is not clear, however, if these weapons have entered Manipur recently or if these area part of the old stock from the days when some of the underground groups in Manipur used to have links with China. 

In any case, the sources underscore the importance of the seizure of weapons of all kinds that are now rather freely available in Manipur. Among these are the weapons looted from various police stations in the course of the present ethnic violence in the state. Nearly 3,000 of such weapons could still be out; only about 10 to 15percent of the looted weapons have since been seized, estimate the sources. 

Besides the looted weapons are the weapons available in camps of militant groups now under suspension of operation with the security forces. 

Under the terms of ceasefire, these groups have been allowed to retain their weapons under the condition that these would be kept in the designated camps and would not be taken out of them. Some of these weapons, however, may have been used in the recent violence. Besides, there are the weapons which have been in circulation for some time. 

There has been no concrete evidence of instigation by external forces in fomenting violence in Manipur in the recent past, the sources say. They do not rule out the possibility, however, an attempt to embarrass the Indian Government in international forums over the continuing incidents of violence in Manipur. 

The sources also insist on the need for the Manipur State administration to ensure that the women’s organizations in Manipur, the Meira Paibeis, are neutralized and preventing them from interfering with the operations of the Assam Rifles. 

It has been witnessed often when Assam Rifles contingents to go a place to prevent an incident of attack on a community or arson, or for recovery of looted weapons, groups of women surround them and prevent them from carrying out the operation. Since the Assam Rifles do not have any women personnel, it faces a handicap. 

In view of the failure of the authorities to prevent the recurrence of violence, the sources say it is now necessary to reintroduce the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in a selective way in the violence-prone areas so that the army can carry out operations unfettered against militant groups. 

The upsurge in violence has been noted in Manipur soon after the withdrawal of the AFSPA from a number of police station areas. 

At present, AFSPA has been withdrawn from 19 police station areas in Manipur in seven of the valley districts of the State. Among them are the Imphal West and Imphal East Districts, Bishenpur and the plains areas of the Churachandpur District; all of which have witnessed major incidents of violence. The inter-district borders are, however, still under the AFSPA; and violence has taken place in some of these areas also.

Under the AFSPA, the army is empowered to carry on operations on its own and does not have to depend on the permission of the civil administration or to be accompanied by a magistrate and a police official while going on operations. This enables troops to carry out operations much faster and also to prevent prior information about operations leaking out.

Ethnic violence in Manipur, as in other parts of the north-east, has been marked by the involvement of militant groups owing allegiance to particular communities. In such situations, the army, empowered with special powers, is the best agency to deal with these, it is pointed out. In the course of the present ethnic violence in Manipur, the involvement of Kuki militant groups, some of them under suspension of operations with the security forces, has come to light. The involvement of some of the militant groups owing allegiance to the Meitei community is not ruled out.

Some of these groups are bigger and stronger, and even have secessionist demands. 

According to the sources, demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the list of scheduled tribes is one of the main reasons for the upsurge in present violence, with people in the Kuki community fearing more competition in benefits of reservation they presently enjoy. 

The other is the proliferation in illegal poppy cultivation in the hilly areas of Churachandpur and the competition among various groups, even sections of officials, over the control of this trade.

With the porous border and the unrestricted movement of locals within a specified belt along the international border, it is difficult to prevent the entry of people from Myanmar.

One concern of the security forces is that the ethnic violence does not spill over to the neighbouring states of Nagaland, Mizoram or Tripura; all of which have a substantial number of Kuki population. In such an eventuality, it will be even more unmanageable to control the situation.