New Delhi: Although the media’s focus has returned to Manipur with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra moving through the state and into Nagaland, Churachandpur district has been without electricity for two days and the border town of Moreh has been tense.
People from the Kuki-Zo community who populate Churachandpur, have been without internet and online bank facilities.
“It feels like we are going back to the 1970s. No lights, no network, no internet,” a member of the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum said.
The Churachandpur Medical Hospital was on high alert, and a member of the Kuki Students’ Organisation told The Wire that surgeries were also disrupted. Locals have claimed that the lack of proper treatment facilities have led to the deaths of 35 people in the district, which remains closed off from Meitei districts.
Meanwhile, a gunfight has been continuing at the Moreh town near the Myanmar border. A 27-year-old woman, Nemneilhing Simte, daughter of Thangmang Simte of Moreh Mission Veng, reportedly suffered a bullet injury on her knee after having been caught in the cross-fire. Locals alleged that it was security forces whose bullet injured here.
Nemneilhing Simte after her injury. Photo: By arrangement.
State police, have, meanwhile, arrested two leaders of the Kuki Inpi Manipur’s Tengnoupal Chapter, leading to the current imbroglio in the area.
In a post on X, Manipur police said,
“At around 4:30 pm, during round patrolling of Manipur Police Special CDO Teams near Moreh College, the security personnel observed two suspected individuals who opened fire on vehicles of security personnel and ran into a cluster of houses. On being fired upon, the security forces immediately retaliated and cordoned off the suspected houses near Moreh College. During the operation, the two suspicious individuals were chased and overpowered using minimum force and were detained for verification. On spot verification, they disclosed themselves as (a) Name: Philip khaikholal khongsai, son of (Late) Marcus Khongsai of New Moreh Ward no 8. (b) Hemkholal Mate, son of (Late) Onkholun Mate of K. Moulsang Village. The above two individuals were arrested.”
Kuki-Zo women in Moreh have protested against the arrest and demanded the unconditional and immediate release of the two leaders.
Nyay Yatra
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Kangpokpi on day two. Over thousands of people gathered on the streets from Gamgiphai via Kangpokpi town to Hengbung village to welcome Gandhi in the Kuki-majority district.
Kangpokpi district is among the 110 in 15 states, which will be covered by the Yatra.
Members of the Kuki Women’s Organisation for Human Rights, who walked along with the senior Congress leader, apprised him of the current situation in Manipur.
“We have told Rahul Gandhi that unless the state forces, especially the Meitei commandos, are withdrawn/removed from the border town, there will be no peace in Moreh,” they told reporters.
The Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) and various civil society organisations of Kangpokpi also requested Gandhi to present the grievances of the Kuki-Zo community in the upcoming budget session of parliament. Their leader Lun Kipgen, who spent about 30 minutes with Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh, told The Wire that these are the demands which they had raised with Gandhi:
- A separate administration for Kuki-Zo people in the form of a Union Territory,
- A central university for both Kangpokpi and Lamka in Churachandpur,
- An All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Kangpokpi,
- A Kuki-Zo Regiment in the military/defence sector for the post-conflict scenario,
- Permanent HQ for Central Security Forces/Assam Rifles in Phailengmol areas in Saikul, Kangchup-Geljang, Imphal Tamenglong (IT) Road, Taphou Kuki, which are the boundaries between Kuki-Zo dominated areas and Non Kuki-Zo dominated areas,
- Permanent removal of State Police Commandos (CDOs) from Moreh, and
- Express-highways between Kangpokpi to Lamka (Churachandpur) via Joujangtek, Kangpokpi to Tengnoupal-Moreh via Saikul-Phailengmol and Tengnoupal-Moreh Churachandpur.
