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The deadly conflict in Manipur has dragged on for 18 months without any glimmer of resolution. At least 255 persons have died and over 59,000 displaced since the clashes broke out in May 2023.
A recent escalation of tensions in Jiribam district has seen women and children being targeted. At least 22 persons have been killed in the fresh wave of violence that began on November 7.
The two communities that have suffered losses in the civil-war-like situation – the dominant Meiteis and the minority Kuki-Zomi-Hmar tribes – remain deeply suspicious and unsympathetic to the other’s sufferings.
Scroll spoke to Angela Rangad, a Shillong-based women’s and democratic rights activist, on what this new escalation in violence means for the state and the wider North East region, and the impact of the conflict on women and children.
Rangad, who has been an advocate for workers’ rights and gender justice for about two decades, visited Manipur in August 2023 as part of a women-only fact-finding team. Excerpts from the interview:
There has been another deadly spiral of violence in Manipur, this time in Jiribam. What stands out for you in this current round of attacks and counter-attacks?
The killing of women and children in Jiribam has shocked all sides. These actions constitute crimes against humanity and there must be accountability. Retribution cannot be an excuse for violence against civilians or non-combatants.
From the beginning of the conflict, women and children have been easy targets. If you analyse the rise in tensions, it has often followed incidents involving gross violence against women. Last year, it was the [video] of the women who were paraded and sexually assaulted. This time, it is the burning of a woman and then the killing of six people, including an infant.
This is a very dangerous development as perpetrators are looking for ways to increase their impunity and dominate using force.
Has the sense of grievance in both communities grown since last year?
Grievances that are used to justify violence and continuing conflict are often exaggerated and manufactured.
It is true that there has been uneven development and neglect, that corruption has deprived many people of their entitlements. However, the solution to this is accountability and transparency in administration, both in the hills and in the valley.
Any political arrangement has to respect the multi-ethnic nature of polities and ensure the security and respect of minorities – ethnic and religious.
How have women and children been specifically affected by the recent violence in Manipur and its aftermath?
The brunt of this conflict has been borne by them. For example, in the camps, the conditions are deplorable. The toilets and sleeping spaces are in a bad shape and things have worsened over the months.
The poorest and the middle class have had no choice but to stop educating their children in order to secure food every day and avoid illness in the camps. These realities need to be highlighted, especially the unfairness in who bears the brunt of this conflict, which is orchestrated by certain elites on both sides.
People should not become permanently displaced. There should have been efforts to secure villages and ensure safe return, but no one has bothered to make that happen – not the Kuki-Zomi MLAs nor the Meitei MLAs. It is as if they want the conflict to continue. They no longer remember the people as they are not affected by their suffering.
How do you assess the state government and the Centre’s response? Is sending 5,000 more troops to Manipur a solution?
It is shameful that the Centre is silent on this matter, reflecting a new low for us as a nation.
Sending more troops and reimposing AFSPA [the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives the forces broad powers to maintain “public order” in “disturbed areas”] will not help heal these fraught relations. It will likely fuel further suspicion and mistrust. AFSPA has never solved anything in Manipur over the decades and it never will. Moreover, with the Union government’s active support, the deeply partisan government of Biren Singh remains in power. As long as that is so, people will not feel that a non-partisan peace is possible.
What needs to change at the community, state and national level to prevent further violence?
The narrative in the current conflict is tightly controlled by a few on both sides. Rational, fair voices on both sides are being silenced and the voices of women, for instance, have been completely ignored.
A lasting peace must be people-oriented, not merely a change in administrative arrangements. First and foremost, we need to restore the status quo that existed before May 3, 2023.
People must have the right to return to their places of residence and livelihood. Meiteis should be allowed to return to places like Churachandpur, Moreh and other areas, and Kuki-Zomis should be able to return to the valley. Any voice that prevents this from happening should be seen as anti-peace and justice and should be called out.
What does this mean for the North East? How are neighbouring states reacting?
The North East is home to communities that are very ethnocentric. So now, the spillover of the conflict in Manipur is being met with an inward-looking response. Instead of responding as neighbours, with concern for what’s happening close to us, the immediate reaction is xenophobic, concerned with how the conflict might disrupt the demography of neighbouring states like Assam and Meghalaya.
All the northeastern states are now trying to please the central government. State leaders have not taken a firm stand on the Manipur conflict. They do not want to challenge power, even when that power is creating confusion and division among the people.
