Meiteis protest over barricade put in place by army, central forces fire teargas shells

 The contentious army barricade has been set up near the Phougakchao Ikhai police station, which is outside the buffer zone in Bishnupur

The protesters gather at Phougakchao Ikhai in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Wednesday.: PTI picture

Umanand Jaiswal, TT, Guwahati, 07.09.23 : Manipur is refusing to be swept under the carpet — and the divide within the state rivals the complexities usually seen on volatile international borders.

On Wednesday, a protest crystallised in the Imphal Valley where thousands of Meitei people demanded the removal of a barricade put in place by the army. Central security forces had to fire teargas shells to disperse the protesters.

The Meitei people had converged on a place called Phougakchao Ikhai in Bishnupur. Bishnupur is in the Valley where the Meitei people are the majority.

The district adjoining Bishnupur is Churachandpur, where the Kuki community holds sway. When the clashes broke out on May 3 and gathered pace, many Meitei families had left their homes in Churachandpur and the border areas of Bishnupur and moved in with relatives deep inside Bishnupur.

The security forces created a buffer zone between the violence-wracked Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts to ensure a neutral corridor that is heavily guarded.

The contentious army barricade has been set up near the Phougakchao Ikhai police station, which is outside the buffer zone in Bishnupur. The barricade has been set up outside the buffer zone to prevent “miscreants” from entering the buffer zone, an official said.

The location of the barricade has prompted the Meitei people to complain that they had been unfairly hemmed in while the Kuki people “freely roam around” the erstwhile Meitei villages in Churachandpur and areas on the fringes of Bishnupur.

It is against this backdrop that on September 3, the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (Cocomi), a conglomerate of leading Meitei civil society organisations, called the protest march scheduled for Wednesday.

The BJP-run state government had been trying to dissuade the march from going ahead but the protesters did gather at Phougakchao Ikhai on Wednesday.

“We want the army barricade removed as it is against the interest of the affected Meitei people of the area. They cannot visit their deserted homes or move freely,” Cocomi assistant media coordinator M. Dhananjoy Singh told The Telegraph, asked about the mass protest in which over 10,000 people participated, mostly from Bishnupur district.

He added: “On the other hand, the Kuki people from adjoining Churachandpur district can roam around freely in the abandoned Meitei villages of Torbung and Kangvai in Bishnupur district. It was hurting the sentiments of the Meitei people.”

Meitei representatives have said there is “anger and resentment” among the Meitei people because 90 per cent of the buffer zone between Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts falls in Bishnupur district, leading to security checks and restrictions in movement.

Wednesday’s protesters were mostly made up of Meira Paibis (Meitei women torch-bearers) and youths, along with Cocomi members. There was heavy deployment of state and central security forces, including Rapid Action Force personnel.

Sources said over 30 people were injured in teargas shelling by central security forces to disperse the gathering that had staged a sit-in at the Kwakta ground about 1km from the army barricade. There was no official confirmation of the injuries.

Cocomi leaders held talks with the district administration but there was no resolution.

According to Dhananjoy, the administration had agreed to shift the barricade to a forest office about 50 metres away but the gathering did not accept the plan.

“They were firm on getting the army barricade relocated to Torbung Bangla because it can function from there too,” Dhananjoy said.

Torbung Bangla is on the border of Bishnupur district, about 1km from Phougakchao Ikhai, where the army barricade is located, a Cocomi member said. The Meitei people claim Torbung Bangla is in Bishnupur district.

A Bishnupur district administration official said the army had put up the barricade on August 3 in connection with the proposed burial of Kuki-Zo people who died during the conflict. The burial was later put off. Clashes between the two communities have claimed at least 174 lives and displaced 67,000 people.

“The demand was for the removal of only one barricade set up by the Gorkha Regiment near Phougakchao Ikhai police station, which is outside a buffer zone,” the official said.

Cocomi leaders said they had urged the government to relocate the army barricade by August 30 but nothing had materialised.

On Tuesday, the state government had appealed to Cocomi to call off the mass protest as the administration had already removed a few barricades, and around 700 displaced people from the affected area had started to return to their homes in Bishnupur district.

The administration had on Tuesday imposed a curfew in five valley districts — Bishnupur, Kakching, Thoubal, Imphal West and Imphal East — as a preventive measure in view of the Cocomi mass rally.

Manipur police said on Wednesday night that there was a congregation of a large crowd at Kwakta in Bishnupur district with an intent to proceed towards Torbung area to remove barricades/bunkers. However, security forces intervened and dispersed the crowd.

The situation is under control as the crowd has left, a district official said. Curfew has been relaxed in all five valley districts.