Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 18: With security cover withdrawn, three Kuki village volunteers were killed in a fresh incident of violence which broke out hitherto untouched Naga dominated Ukhrul district in Manipur on Friday.
Police said three village volunteers were killed by unidentified armed miscreants at Thawai Kuki village in Manipur’s Ukhrul district, a Naga dominated area. The attack came just days after the unit of the Assam Rifles posted near the village was withdrawn. There were no other security forces present in the area.
Soon after the incident, the United Meitei-Pangal Committee (UMPD) of Manipur said its best efforts to broker peace between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities were not yielding any results and urged the President, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Commission for Minorities to urgently intervene and bring peace.
The ethnic conflict that broke out on May 3 has continued for over 100 days now. More than 150 have been killed in the violence, hundreds more injured, and tens of thousands of people internally displaced.
Over the last three months as the divide between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities became entrenched, Meitei Pangals (the small percentage of Meiteis who practise Islam) have remained a neutral community, largely living in areas between Meitei and Kuki-Zo settlements. For the longest time, they have been given safe passage by both communities.
However, on Friday, while speaking to reporters in Delhi, leaders of the UMPC said with the violence continuing, they find themselves in a tight spot and were “afraid that we will be pulled into the conflict.”
The attack on the Thawai Kuki village on Friday was the first of its kind in the Naga majority district since ethnic violence erupted between the tribal Kuki and the majority Meitei community in the State on May 3. There are 14 Kuki villages nestled in the district. Earlier on June 1, only an incident of arson was reported from the area when two villages were burnt down but there were no other violent incidents.
The village volunteers were present in their bunkers and were most probably killed in their sleep around 5 am on Friday. The bodies were mutilated, a community representative said. The deceased have been identified as Thangkhokai Haokip (31), Jamkhogin Haokip (35) and Hollenson Baite (20).
Ningshem Vashum, Superintendent of Police, Ukhrul, said the killers were yet to be identified but it was suspected that “Meitei militants” carried out the attack. A defence source said valley based insurgent groups were suspected to be behind the killings.
Local people said owing to security concerns many Kuki families from nearby Kangpokpi district had sent women and children to stay in the villages in the Naga district. “Even though no attack has taken place in Ukhrul, barring one incident of arson, the village volunteers had set up a bunker since early May. On Friday, the unidentified armed men killed the village guards in their bunker. They had multiple bullet wounds and were also attacked with sharp edged weapons,” they said. An Assam Rifles unit posted around 3 kilometres from the village was recently removed owing to pressure by Meitei groups. A source confirmed that the unit was relocated on July 30 due to operational requirement.
The Meitei civil society groups and the BJP legislators in the valley have demanded the withdrawal of Assam Rifles from the buffer areas, where Kuki and Meitei settlements are adjacent to each other, alleging bias and supporting “one side” only.
On August 7, the BJP State leadership submitted a memorandum to prime minister Narendra Modi that the “Assam Rifles has been charged by the public for their biased role in tackling the situation by favouring and supporting one side only.” The Kuki groups have opposed the withdrawal of AR questioning the role of State police commandos in the present violence. More than 150 people have been killed since the violence began May 3.