Yeh Jo India Hai Na, It Has Forgotten Manipur – One of Its 7 Daughters

Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya

Yeh Jo India Ha Na.. it’s forgotten one of its 7 daughters, Manipur... which has seen violence for too long. Recent clashes between its Kuki and Meitei people have left 60 dead.

Over the decades too, Manipur has seen Meiteis pitted against Nagas, largely over the Naga demand for Greater Nagaland, it has seen Nagas fight Kukis over claims to Manipur’s hill regions, each side backed by armed militant groups. And for years, Meitei, Kuki and Naga insurgents have taken on the Army, Central Forces and State Police over issues of self-rule and autonomy. 

Manipur also bore the brunt of the harsh Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA, which often saw security forces target innocents… leading to Manipuri peace activist Irom Sharmila’s 16 year fast against the law.

Everyone has played a role in Manipur’s cycle of violence, so instead of getting into the ‘blame-game’, the question that ALL stakeholders – the Centre, the State, Community leaders, militant groups – everyone, must answer is… WHAT NEXT?   

Manipur & Mizoram – A Comparison

But let’s understand how critical peace is, and how violence has hurt progress in Manipur. And I’m taking the liberty of comparing Manipur with its southern sister, and neighbour, Mizoram. 

Per capita income – the average Manipuri earns 7,300 rupees a month, the average Mizo earns 12,000 a month, same as the national average. While just 9.8% of Mizoram is below the poverty line, in Manipur it is 36.9%, making it the poorest state in the North-East. Health – While Mizoram has 226 hospital beds for every 1 lakh citizens, Manipur has just 72, again, lowest in the north-east. And while Mizoram has a literacy rate of 91.6%, Manipur is at 79.8%, second lowest in the north-east.

Now, both Manipur and Mizoram had militancy starting in the ‘60s, with the Mizo National Front in Mizoram, and several groups in Manipur, the UNLF being the most powerful. But while the Mizo Accord of 1986 brought peace to Mizoram, the violence did not end in Manipur, and so it just kept falling behind, as the numbers show.

The numbers also reveal another part of Manipur’s problem. Lack of development.. which means that the size of the pie.. the pie of opportunities, of business, industry, farming, jobs… the size of that pie has not grown.. even as aspirations and expectations have grown among all Manipuri communities. And when those aspirations can’t be met - the netas, the community leaders, militant groups – they rake up old grudges, exploit divisive issues, allowing friction and violence to take over. And the real roots of the problem… are forgotten.

In Manipur too, issues are being ‘dressed up’ as the ‘reasons’ for the violence. For instance the debate over the Meitei demand for ST or Scheduled Tribe status.

The debate on whether ‘primitiveness’ or the ‘indigenous nature’ of a people determines ST status is one that can almost never be resolved. And as per Sanjib Baruah writing for The Indian Express, there are at least a 1000 communities across India wanting ST status.

But in reality, most of them are just tired of waiting for good governance. And so, they are trying to push for ST reservations to improve their lives. What every community in Manipur really wants.. is a better life. A bigger pie of opportunities, where there’s enough for all. Instead we’re pushing to blame and fight each other for their problems.

Danger of Communal Violence

Another fear is that the Meitei-Kuki friction may acquire a communal colour, even though religion is not at the root of the problem at all. Some evidence of that is already visible in the nature of the violence.. as Kuki churches have been targeted, along with claims of Meitei Hindu temples being attacked as well. 

Manipur’s BJP government has also said its ready to introduce the National Register of Citizens or NRC in Manipur, to check the alleged influx of ‘illegal immigrants’ from Myanmar. This too is being seen as an anti-hill tribal move, as ethnic Kuki, Naga and Chin tribals, most of them Christians, have lived on both sides of the Myanmar-India border for centuries.     

We may hope that Chief Minister Biren Singh does not exploit the communal angle, but unfortunately in most BJP ruled states – UP, MP, Gujarat, Assam, Karnataka, even Maharashtra recently – communal politics has played out – be it in the form of ‘Bulldozer Raj’, ‘anti Love-Jihad’ laws, or CAA and NRC, or targeting Christian congregations and churches, or hate speeches at so-called ‘Dharam Sansads’ – singling out minority communities for abuse, violence, and calling for their social and economic boycott.

What could further tempt the BJP, is Manipur’s electoral maths. With 40 of its 60 assembly seats in the Meitei dominated Imphal valley, it would suit Biren Singh to position himself as a hero of the Meiteis, looking out for their ‘aspirations’.. the demand for ST status.. and unify the fragmented Meitei vote behind him.

Today in Manipur, both Meiteis and Kukis are stuck in crowded relief camps, their lives set back by years. In the debris of these destroyed homes it’s not easy to tell which home is Kuki, and which is Meitei. What we do know is that both communities are hurting. As I said at the start… Yeh Jo India Hai Na… it has forgotten one of its 7 daughters of the north-east. Surely the people of Manipur deserve better.