New Delhi: In Manipur’s Koutruk village, armed young volunteers patrol shifts to protect residents from the warring factions of Meitei and Kuki Meitei and Kuki communities. These youngsters, mainly in their late 20s and early 30s, operate under names like “Village Volunteers” and “Village Defence Force,” independently from official security forces, officials told news agency Press Trust of India reported.
They identify themselves as volunteers and say they have taken up the responsibility to keep their own safe as security forces “could not do enough to protect us”, the report said.
They are trained in basic combat tactics, it added.
“Their presence in villages in the valley and Churachandpur in the hills cannot be missed. They are in uniform and can be spotted manning bunkers made of sandbags or patrolling with weapons, including sticks, batons and rifles – some country-made, and some stolen or smuggled,” the news agency reported.
“Patrolling duties are assigned through a roster system. Each shift is between six and seven hours with small groups of five to six sent out to keep a watch on highways, village roads and narrow pathways that pass through hills and dense forests.”
One of the volunteers told PTI that they were compelled to take matters into their own hands as security forces were of no help.
Earlier, they were also operating drones to keep a vigil but now jammers have been installed by the central forces, the volunteer cited above said.
This PTI reporter visited a camp of these volunteers, most of whom earned their living from farming. Among them, some had left their jobs or studies for the security of their villages. They showed this reporter the bullet holes on the walls of the houses and the measures in place to thwart threats.
Another village volunteer explained their training, saying that the duration varied from 20 days to two months, encompassing basic NCC skills and some training in the handling of country-made weapons.
Local officials maintain caution, allowing their activities as long as they “remain peaceful”, the report added.
Some locals described the areas in the hills and the valley as “new borders”. And these volunteers keep a vigil on these borders, the report said.
“Be it at the border between Bishnupur and Churachandpur, or Imphal West and Kangpokpi, the situation remains precarious, with checkpoints resembling those at boundaries between hostile nations,” it said.
Nagas and Muslims can move between regions under certain conditions, escorted from border checkpoints. However, Kukis and Meities cannot travel between the hills and the valley.
The PTI reporter, who travelled to Churachandpur earlier this month, was stopped at four of these checkpoints. She was asked many questions, including where she was going, whom she was meeting and whether the person she was meeting was a government official or a civil society group leader.
“We stop every vehicle and ask for their ID. We maintain a register of who is visiting and for what purpose. We keep a vigil to ensure that no Meiti gets to enter the hills. Meitie volunteers do the same,” a volunteer at the Bishnupur checkpoint said.
