New Delhi: In a fresh wave of violence in the new year – continuing a 20-month period of strife – protests broke out in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district on January 3, after a mob of civilians attacked the offices of the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police near the Ima market in the Kangpokpi town.
A photo, of Kangpokpi SP Manoj Prabhakar, with visible injuries on his forehead, has been shared multiple times on social media.
Local residents state that the protests were in the wake of a December 31 crackdown in the region by central forces who allegedly targeted Kuki-Zo women. In the course of this action by security forces, they fired rubber bullets. This led to a woman, 45-year-old Heshi Mate losing her eye. Locals claim that a total of 50 women were hurt that day.
Members of the Kuki-Zo community have been demanding the removal or replacement of central forces personnel at the Saibol village in the Kangpokpi district.
Saibol village is situated approximately two-kilometres away from Twichin, which lies within the ‘buffer zone’ that separates the Kuki-dominated hills in the state from the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley.
SP Prabhakar told The Wire that seven police officers were injured in the January 3 storming.
“The protestors came to seal our SP office as their demand of replacing CAPF with CRPF was not fulfilled, but they failed,” he added.
The Kangpokpi SP has, however, promised that CAPF forces will be changed with the CRPF now. “Due to some strategic reasons, the interchange didn’t happen – so they came to seal our office and disrupted law and order, but we managed to maintain law and order as the justice system is still alive in India,” said Prabhakar.
December 31
According to the Kuki-Zo hill tribal council, on December 31, “Kuki women, with unwavering strength and determination, stood firm throughout the night, preventing the central forces from entering Saibol village.”
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Kukis living in that area believe that the central forces have been helping groups like the armed Arambai Tenggol, comprising Meiteis, to attack them.
While Kukis said Heshi Mate lost an eye, the Manipur Police described the situation as a peaceful one.
In a press note dated December 31, the police stated, “A large number of women attempted to disrupt the deployment of the Army, BSF, and CRPF at Uyokching, near Thamnapokpi. The joint security forces dispersed the crowd with minimal use of force, and the situation is now peaceful and under control. The forces are deployed at the hilltop to dominate the area and prevent any untoward incidents.”
The injured women were, according to Kuki people, brought to Saikul town of Kangpokpi district. Saikul is the town closest to Saibol village and is 28 kilometres from the town of Kangpokpi. With a population of approximately 70,000, Saikul has only two doctors in the community health centre. Earlier, there were four, but because two of them were Meiteis, they had to leave Saikul since ethnic violence broke out in May 2023.
Heshi Mate was the only injured person who was referred to Guwahati for further treatment. When her family reached Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya, in Guwahati, doctors there told them that she had lost vision in her left eye completely.
Kuki Student Organisation (KSO) leader Paolenthang Doungel, who was present with the family during the operation, described the family’s financial situation as dire. “The family has no money and the government of Manipur is not helping us with Heshi’s surgery. Tribals have collected money for her operation somehow, amidst great urgency. Otherwise, the woman would have died in Manipur from injuries,” he said.
Goupu, a leader of the KSO’s wing at Saikul, said, “Despite the shortage of doctors, the doctors available at the CHC Saikul attended all the injured and provided essential medical care. Patients who needed specialist or tertiary care were referred for further treatment.”
Goupu also said that since May 2023, when the strife began, the community has been the only solid source of financial support.
In protest, the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) obstructed the vital transportation route of National Highway 2 for two days, causing disruption in the movement of goods to the Imphal Valley, the home of the Meiteis. The highway has now been reopened.
Ethnic violence in Manipur, which began on May 2023, has taken the lives of at least 250 people, and more than 500 have been arrested, and 11,000 have been displaced.
