 "What’s behind the fresh violence in Manipur’s Jiribam?")
Tension has been high in Manipur since last week due to a fresh round of violence in Jiribam.
In the latest incident reported on Monday (November 11), at least 10 suspected Kuki insurgents were shot dead in an encounter with the security forces in the district. A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier was injured in the attack.
After this, fresh violence was reported from multiple places in Imphal Valley where armed groups from the two warring sides engaged in exchanges of fire, police said, as per PTI.
Let’s take a closer look.
The incident
The incident occurred on Monday at about 3 pm at Jakuradhor Karong, which is under the jurisdiction of the Borobekra police station. The region is close to the hills in the neighbouring Pherzawal district, home to most of the Hmar community, which is a part of the Kuki-Zo.
The suspected Kuki insurgents began attacking at around 4 am, according to The Indian Express, targeting stores in Meitei settlements, including Lamtai Khunou and Jakuradhor Karong.
At around 3 pm, a CRPF post and a police station came under fire, police said.
“Today, November 11, 2024, at about 3 pm, the CRPF post located at Jakuradhor and Borobekra police station (located nearby) were attacked by armed militants. The security forces retaliated strongly. Due to the attack, one CRPF constable namely Sanjeev Kumar sustained bullet injury and has been evacuated to Silchar Medical College, Assam and is under treatment,” Manipur Police said in a statement on X.
The exchange of fire lasted 40-45 minutes, following which the situation was brought under control, it said.
Today, 11th November, 2024 at about 3 pm, the CRPF Post located at Jakuradhor and Borobekra Police Station (located nearby), Jiribam District were attacked by armed militants. The security forces retaliated strongly. Due to the attack, one CRPF constable namely Sanjeev Kumar… pic.twitter.com/8ORw3EB4Pg
— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) November 11, 2024
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe police added, “After the firing ceased, the area was searched, and 10 bodies of armed militants were recovered, along with arms and ammunition… A criminal case has been registered and is being investigated.”
The recovered weapons included three AK-47 rifles, four self-loading rifles (SLRs), two Indian Small Arms Systems (INSAS) rifles, one rocket-propelled grenade (RPGs) and one Pump Action Gun, along with bulletproof jackets, helmets, and magazines, the police said.
Operations were continuing to flush out militants, and reinforcement teams consisting of Assam Rifles, CRPF, and police were rushed to the spot, the post said.
In the evening, violent clashes were reported from various villages in Imphal West and Imphal East districts, officials told PTI. Insurgents allegedly fired at the low-lying areas of Koutruk in Imphal West from the hilltops of Kangpokpi district. It was retaliated by armed “village volunteers,” they said.
A few abandoned houses and some other structures were set on fire in the Kangchup area of the district by militants. Two people, identified as Phuritsabam Devananda and Ningombam Romesh, were injured after getting hit by the shrapnel of a bomb.
Panic also gripped Lamshang after an improvised mortar shell fell in a residential area in Phumlou Kameng, around 3.7 kilometres from Kangchup, police said, adding that incidents of firing were also reported from Chanung and Thamnapokpi areas of Imphal East district.
Also read: Fences and fault lines: Why border security alone won’t heal Manipur
Not militants, but ‘village volunteers’
A statement released by a group called Hmar Village Volunteers (HVVs), which represents armed Hmars involved in the conflict, claimed that those killed on Monday were “village volunteers” who were “retaliating” to protect their land.
“We understand that the proscribed Meitei terrorists and AT (armed Meitei group Arambai Tenggol) are hiding in various parts of the Jiribam area, and are being sheltered by the local Meitei populace… The HVVs have no option but to retaliate… in self defence to protect our indigenous land and innocent people… We further reiterate that the HVVs are not in conflict with the central forces,” the statement said.
Thangtinlen Haokip, information secretary of the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), told ThePrint, “These are not militants, but our village defence volunteers, who have been on the ground since the violence began, to protect their community. It is wrong to call them militants. We are trying to get in touch with their families and chart out the next course of action. What has happened is extremely unfortunate."
Accusing the CRPF of involvement, the Hmar Students’ Association condemned the incident as a “premeditated massacre of Hmar Village Volunteers." “Videos circulating on social media, showing the merciless dragging of the dead bodies, confirm the involvement of the CRPF. All village volunteers in Kuki-Zo areas are now on high alert, prepared to defend their people against further aggression,” read their statement.
Probe demands
The Kuki-Zo Council called for a total shutdown in the hilly areas of the state from 5 am to 6 pm on Tuesday “to express our collective grief and solidarity who were brutally shot dead.”
The council demanded an immediate and thorough investigation “to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Following the violence, the Jiribam district administration issued indefinite prohibitory orders under BNS Section 163.
The section prohibits the assembly of five or more people and the carrying of weapons, citing “apprehension of widespread disturbance to peace and tranquillity… and grave danger to human life and property because of the unlawful activities of some anti-social elements for the furtherance of their evil designs.”
Heightened tensions in Manipur
Located in the westernmost region of Manipur, Jiribam is a small district with a mixed population.
The situation in the district has escalated since last week when a fresh round of violence broke out.
Last Thursday, in a brutal attack on Zairawn, another Hmar-dominated village in Jiribam, a 31-year-old woman from the community was allegedly raped and burnt alive. Violence in the area escalated when 80 to 100 armed assailants allegedly from the Meitei community and radical armed Meitei group, Arambai Tenggol, opened fire on the villagers and set up to 17 homes on fire, according to ThePrint.
A day later, a woman from the valley-dominant Meitei community was shot dead by suspected Kuki insurgents while she was working in a paddy field in Bishnupur district.
At least two people were shot in separate incidents in the districts of Imphal East and Bishnupur.
Police have said that a group of farmers in Yaingangpokpi were attacked by suspected Kuki insurgents, injuring a 35-year-old Tangkhul man, identified as Rashok Horam. He is undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences.
Ningombam Chaoba, 38, sustained a bullet injury while he was working in a paddy field at Litanpokpi in Bishnupur district. He and other farmers were fired upon from the Dampi hill range, which falls under the jurisdiction of Churachandpur district, according to police.
For those uninitiated, more than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year .
With inputs from agencies
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