Who is accountable in Manipur? The answer can provide justice to mob assault survivors

Source– The post is based on the article “Who is accountable in Manipur? The answer can provide justice to mob assault survivors” published in “The Indian Express” on 21st July 2023.

Syllabus: GS3- Internal security

Relevance: Issues related to northeast

News- The article explains the current violence between Kuki and Meiteis undergoing in Manipur.

How is a system of violence operating in Manipur that is responsible for current unrest?

Since May, social divisions between the Meitei and Zo-Kuki communities have evolved into a de facto partition.

The violence has resulted in over a hundred deaths, thousands of people displaced, numerous churches destroyed, properties burned. A no-man’s land has established between the hills and the Valley, secured by the army.

The state administration has also been divided. Meitei police officers confined to the Valley, and Kuki-Zo officers restricted to the hills. Moreover, a significant number of bullets and arms, including machine-guns, have gone missing from various police training centres.

The conflict is further complicated by gender politics and the balance of power between different communities. The administration in southern Manipur is currently being governed from New Delhi. N Biren Singh government mandate is limited to the Imphal Valley.

Recent incidents, like the murder of a Naga woman in Imphal East, threaten to strain Naga-Meitei ties and potentially drag Nagaland into the conflict. The situation is like the Meitei-Kuki rift in the south that has already involved Mizoram.

Thousands of displaced Kuki-Zo families are being hosted by the Mizoram government. Mizos are openly supporting this community to protect their ethnic kin in Manipur from Meitei majoritarianism.

This has created political tensions among Mizoram, Assam, and Manipur, particularly concerning disputed boundaries.

The situation is further complicated by the influx of drug profits and products from Myanmar. All these factors have contributed to escalating tensions and armed ethnic mobilisation in Northeast India, with support from states within the Union.

What are the driving factors behind this system of violence?

Such systems of violence are a result of India’s majoritarian politics. The driving factor is competing desires for regional hegemony and demands for access to resources and power within the Union and not territorial separation.

Such ecosystems are benefitted by electoral politics. These communities become vote-banks for whoever advocates their cause. Illegitimate and unaccounted cash-flows further boost it, both of which are abundant in the Northeast.

The polarised politics in Manipur is sustained by mechanisms of silence surrounding it. Both the Prime Minister and Home Minister have maintained their silence.

On the other hand, another aspect of this silence is linked to the systemic violence against women in Manipur.

The alleged gang-rape of the two Kuki women was not unknown to the authorities. However, it was only after a leaked video and public outrage that the Manipur police finally ordered an investigation into the matter.