Many from community stuck in violence-hit areas of Manipur: Meitei groups

Several members of the Meitei community are stuck in the violence-hit Churachandpur district of Manipur, its fellow members here said on Tuesday.

People's Alliance for Peace and Progress Manipur and Delhi Manipuri Society, organisations working for Meiteis, held a press conference in the national capital on Tuesday.

The organisations representing the predominant ethnic group of the northeast state said out of more than 5,000 Meitei Hindus in Sanamahi of Churachandpur, only 500 have been evacuated.

"The rest are under hostage of armed Kuki civilians supported by Kuki militants," the groups said in a statement.

"Every house in the Meitei's settlement area, established in 250 AD during the reign of Khoyum Tompok, has been burned down by well armed Kuki civilians and militants. The Meiteis have become homeless refugees in their own ancestral land and taking refuge at the DC office of Churachandpur District headquarters," they said.

"Their lives are at stake. Kuki militants armed with sophisticated weapons hiding in trenches and bunkers are preventing the entry of Indian military forces to evacuate the Meiteis. In other words, none of them have been evacuated so far," they said.

Bhagat Oinam, a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a Meitei community member claimed that the violence is a reaction to attempts by the government to counter illegal poppy cultivation that is taking place in the reserved forest areas.

"Our Kuki brothers and sisters are being manipulated by the drug mafia. We don't endorse violence, peace must prevail," he said.

Robina, an eyewitness from Churachandpur district, said there were 200-300 houses of Meities in her village which have all been destroyed.

"Not a single house has been left....There are 12 villages in the district, you can imagine the situation," she said.

Robina said she was evacuated by the forces, but added that the administration was lacking in its response.

"Nobody was there to help us when it was happening," she added.

The Meitei groups demanded restoration of normalcy and peace in Manipur, and immediate evacuation of all stranded people starting with Churachandpur.

They also sought rehabilitation and return of refugees to their original places and urged the government to prevent the taking over of abandoned houses or lands in both hills and valley by the dominant communities

They also urged the state government to continue the War on Drugs, along with the support of the Union Government.

On April 27, a mob vandalised and set on fire the venue in New Lamka town where Chief Minister N Biren Singh was scheduled to address a function. The mob also partially torched a newly set up open gym which Singh, an ethnic Meitei, was slated to inaugurate the following day.

On May 3, violent clashes broke out in the northeastern state after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the 10 hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

CM Singh had on Monday said that 60 people were killed, 231 injured and 1,700 houses including religious places burnt in the ethnic violence that rocked the northeastern state for the past few days.

The clashes were preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals Nagas and Kukis constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.