Manipur: Kuki and Meitei communities remain separated two years after violence

India Today

Two years after violence erupted in Manipur, the Kuki and Meitei communities remain geographically and socially divided.

Transcript

00:00Let's now get you a ground report from Manipur. It's been two years since the

00:04violence broke out, triggering that deep divide between the Mete and Koki

00:07communities. India Today's Nalini Sharma was in Manipur over the weekend. She

00:11gets us this ground report on what the situation currently is today.

00:17Bringing you this exclusive ground report from the ground in Manipur, we're

00:31going to divulge exactly what is the status in the state right now, how are

00:36the Koki and Mete communities dealing with each other, what are the security

00:40forces doing and what remains to be seen in the days ahead.

00:50It's the evening before the Supreme Court judges delegation is set to visit

00:55the Manipur relief camps to see what the situation of the people who have been the

01:02worst affected by the violence that's going on in Manipur for the past two years has been like.

01:07In Churachandpur, a group of women have gathered together on the road to ensure

01:13that nobody in Churachandpur that mainly consists of the Koki community

01:18is actually breaking curfew and moving around outside after the curfew has been imposed.

01:32Can you tell us a little bit about what is it that all of you have gathered here to do?

01:36Actually, ma'am, we are gathered here for the safety and ensuring peace among ourselves,

01:44like we the mothers have gathered here to ensure safety and peace among us.

01:52All of you are mothers?

01:53Yeah.

01:54And how many women are here at a time?

01:57We are almost 100 and above women, almost 200 are here from various localities.

02:05There are several teams of multiple security forces, including the Indian Army, the Assam

02:12Police, the BSF, the CRPF, who are all present here and they are all ensuring that curfew is

02:20maintained and strictly followed by everyone. And this, remember, is happening just days after

02:26clashes had already broken out in the Churachandpur district on Tuesday between two sub communities

02:32of the larger Koki Zo tribe, where there were Maars and there were Zomis who had indulged in

02:39violence just ahead of the visit of the Supreme Court judges, which is why there are even more

02:45stricter measures that have been imposed in the district right now to ensure that especially

02:51during the time when the Supreme Court judges are in the state, there is no untoward incident

02:56that actually takes place and everybody maintains peace and they maintain calm and they ensure that

03:02only the authorized persons are being allowed to be on the road.

03:15We're right now inside the Churachandpur relief camp where the Supreme Court judges had visited

03:19earlier in the morning today and let's show you what it looks like from inside.

03:23So you can see that there are separate rooms or places that have been designated

03:28for people to stay in and these are divided by mere curtains as doors as well as acting

03:33as walls inside. And what we're given to understand is that one space or one room

03:38has been allotted to one family, which means that there are several rooms which have eight to nine

03:43people living because this has been done irrespective of what the size of the family is.

03:48Another interesting thing that has been told to us during our visit here is that you can see that

03:53these curtains are hanging by wooden rods or wooden planks. What we've gotten to know and

03:59several of the persons living here have told us is that all of these wooden planks were put in place

04:05just two days before the Supreme Court judges were set to arrive here at this relief camp.

04:11In fact, even all of the curtains that you see behind me were handed over

04:15to the IDPs who are living here just two days before the Supreme Court judges were coming.

04:23The buffer zone in Manipur has several security forces. The BSF, the Assam Police, the CRPF, the

04:37Indian Army all stationed a few meters away from each other to ensure that there is no untoward

04:43incident that happens around this area. Interestingly enough, the Indian government

04:48on paper has opened up the buffer zone to allow free movement of the people from the Kuki community

04:55to the Mehti community and vice versa. But what is the reality on the ground?

05:01Well, the reality on the ground is very different. Never in the history of India have two communities

05:07been geographically and socially divided to such an extent like the Mehtis and the Kukis

05:13have been in Manipur today. They do not visit each other at all. Kukis and Mehtis are not

05:20allowed to go to each other's region, not by the security forces, but by the people themselves,

05:27which is why even during the visit of the Supreme Court judges today, the Supreme Court judge who

05:32is a Mehti, Justice N. Koteswar Singh, did not visit the Kuki-dominated areas.

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