Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

Naorem Ibomcha Meitei, 43, was born in southern Manipur’s hill district Churachandpur. He and his family fled from this Kuki tribes-dominated area when ethnic violence broke out in May 2023. Today, Mr Ibomcha said, he saw a viral video of his four-storey house in Churachandpur razed to the ground in a massive, surgical explosion.

“Yes, that’s our house. We were a joint family,” Mr Ibomcha told NDTV. “In September last year, a friend in the aid services told me the house my family built had been demolished by the Kukis. This is the first time I am seeing the video,” he said, and choked up.

Mr Ibomcha said he doesn’t know when exactly the bombing happened, but it was definitely between May and September 2023.

The video shows the four-storey house being blasted surgically with explosives strapped to the pillars, indicating the alleged involvement of hands trained in specialised demolition activity. Some voices are heard talking in the Paite tribes dialect.

He said his family ran a licenced gun shop for eight years, until May 3 – the day clashes erupted – when Kuki rioters barged in, vandalised the store, and looted the weapons. Mobile videos and CCTV camera footage from the shop show the mob ransacking the place.

The gun shop owner was detained by the Assam Rifles in June 2019 while transporting advanced rifle scopes from the border trading town Moreh to Imphal.

#AssamRifles Battalion under IGAR(S) seized 16 Rifles Scopes of foreign origin at PVCP Khudengthabi, which were transported through Moreh into Imphal by a person named Mr Naorem Ibomcha Meitei, r/o Khumujamba Meitei Leikai Village, Dist – Churachandpur. pic.twitter.com/U0LO9eCsPt

— The Assam Rifles (@official_dgar) June 10, 2019

“It breaks my heart to see my home being blown into pieces. It is not just my home, but memory of my childhood and our forefathers. I have heard about ethnic cleansing, but never thought in my wildest dream that me and my fellow Meiteis from Churachandpur will be wiped out in this manner,” Mr Ibomba said in a statement shared by the civil society group Meitei Heritage Society.

Read More: Entire Colony Razed, Manipur’s Churachandpur Meiteis At Crossroads, Seek Justice

In September 2023 too, visuals had confirmed that an entire colony in Churachandpur where the Meitei community used to live was flattened and any sign of its existence erased. Ronald Meisnam, 38, who lived in Mandop Leikai, was horrified to see a flattened plot of land where his house stood.

Mr Ibomcha alleged the security forces could have easily stopped the mass demolition of Meitei houses in Churachandpur. “What was most heartbreaking was the security forces didn’t do anything to prevent this systematic demolition…” he alleged.

“The Churachandpur MLA, LM Khuate, is a former DGP (Director General of Police), and the DGP in May 2023 was another officer from the Kuki tribes, P Doungel. I am sure had they wanted, they could have prevented the demolition of my house and all other properties of Meitei families in Churachandpur,” Mr Ibomcha alleged.

While the Meitei community claims nearly all properties in the state capital Imphal, a valley area, owned by the Kuki tribes remain standing under the watch of the security forces, the Kuki tribes and their civil society organisations say their community suffered more casualties, lived through intense harassment and hounding by Meitei mobs when the clashes began. The Kukis claim nearly all their properties in Imphal were destroyed.

Many Kuki houses in Imphal have been occupied by Meitei armed groups, according to Kuki civil society organisations. “The Games Village in Langol has become barracks for numerous Meitei armed groups. We have visual evidence of gates marked with acronyms such as AT, UNLF, etc,” a Kuki leader based in Delhi told NDTV, referring to the Arambai Tenggol and the United National Liberation Front, whose Pambei faction had signed a ceasefire deal with the Centre and the state government.

Read More: Manipur Oil Leak Accident Or Sabotage? Some Unanswered Questions

Mr Ibomcha refuted the Kuki allegations. “If the security forces can protect the houses of Kukis in Imphal and other districts, why can’t they protect hundreds of Meiteis homes in Churachandpur?” he said.

An association of hundreds of Meitei families who have been living in Churachandpur since 1953 told NDTV that claims by some “misinformed Kukis” that Meiteis don’t have land ownership in Churachandpur, a hill area, is a “blatant lie”. The Khumujamba Meitei Leikai Patta-Dar (Land Owner) Association has alleged Meitei families in Churachandpur have been living under conditions of discrimination long before the May 2023 clashes broke out.

“For many years before May 2023, Meiteis and other non-Kuki communities living in Kuki areas were denied their rights, their faith mocked, and their way of life disrespected. Kuki miscreants would call names to Meiteis living in Churachandpur, deny access to markets, not allow Meitei families to run small shops, take goods by force and not pay, apart from two dozen Kuki terrorist groups taking illegal taxes from us,” Mr Ibomcha said in the statement.

Land Records

Manipur government records show there are 18 villages in Churachandpur that fall under revenue areas. The Meitei community living in these villages say they hold land “pattas” in the revenue areas, and so claims by a section of the Kukis that Meiteis have no land ownership in hill areas is simply not true since these claims ignore the nuances.

“Meiteis have been living in Churachandpur for decades before the land revenue law came. Their rights as legal patta-dars continue even after imposition of the law. And it happened that the Meiteis occupied the prime locations in [Churachandpur] town, so they were the first target of the cleansing,” an expert in Manipur’s complex land laws told NDTV, requesting anonymity.

Manipur is geographically divided into hill and valley regions. The land system comprises surveyed and unsurveyed land. All the valley districts are survey land, and the hill districts have both surveyed and unsurveyed land.

“Nightmare All Our Lives”

“No one ever bothered to hear about our plight just because we were seen as the majority community, which is a big lie. All the Chin-Kuki and their ethnically linked tribes combined in the region outnumber every other community such as Meiteis, Nagas, Tamils, Nepalis, Muslims, etc. Being mislabeled as a member of the so-called majority community, but in reality living as a minority in a Kuki-dominated area has been a tragic irony and nightmare for us, all our lives,” said Mr Ibomcha, whose family has been living in Churachandpur since the 1950s.

The ethnic violence between the valley-dominant Meitei community and nearly two dozen tribes known as Kukis – a term given by the British in colonial times – who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, has killed over 220 people and internally displaced nearly 50,000.

The general category Meiteis want to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category, while the nearly two dozen tribes that share ethnic ties with people in neighbouring Myanmar’s Chin State and Mizoram want a separate administrative carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

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Manipur BJP spokesperson T Michael Lamjathang Haokip, who belongs to the Thadou tribe, says there has been a lot of confusion between the terms Thadou and Kuki, or between Kuki and Zomi or Mizo, or Zo.

“A clear distinction between these terms needs to be made for the sake of clear understanding. Kuki is a colonial terminology, first used loosely by the British colonial power in 1777… Today, the term Kuki, often used out of ignorance, or imposed by the media and others, is rejected by most of the same tribal people who are mistakenly referred to as Kuki,” Mr Haokip said in a post on X.

Kuki has no validity; is non-existent and its meaningless reference has to stop

There has been a lot of confusion between the terms Thadou and Kuki, or between Kuki and Zomi/Mizo, or Zo. A clear distinction between these terms needs to be made for the sake of clear…

— T. Michael Lamjathang Haokip (Thadou) (@TMLH4BJP) July 21, 2024

“Since the creation of ‘Any Kuki Tribes’ and its erroneous addition to the list of Scheduled Tribes of Manipur in 2003, the term Kuki has become even more controversial and unacceptable – even by the Thadou tribe. Other cognate tribes within the broader Zo community do not accept the term ‘Kuki’ as they claim it is an imposed divisive term, and they even consider being called Kuki disrespectful and insulting,” he said.

Imphal/Guwahati:

A group of people who tried to forcibly occupy a flattened residential area in Manipur’s Kuki-dominated hill district Churachandpur were stopped by the police before matters escalated, sources said on Saturday.

Khumujamba, where many from the valley-dominant Meitei community lived, has remained a disputed, empty ground since last year after armed Kuki groups who call themselves “village defence volunteers” bulldozed all the houses.

The police said 24 people were detained and later released after they signed personal recognisance (PR) bonds, which under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) makes it a must for the accused to attend court or visit the police station whenever summoned, failing which action would be taken.

“After receiving a report in the evening today that some market vendors had gathered at Khumujamba area of Churachandpur district, immediately a police team rushed to the spot and cleared the area. The area is completely vacant as of now. 24 people were detained and released on PR bond later,” the police said in a post on X.

“A static police team is stationed at Khumujamba to prevent any untoward incident. The police will secure the area from illegal activities and encroachment as per Supreme Court guidelines,” the police said, referring to the Supreme Court’s order on September 25, 2023 which ordered the state government to protect the properties of internally displaced people and religious buildings.

After receiving a report in the evening today that some market vendors had gathered at Khumujamba area of Churachandpur District, immediately a police team rushed to the spot and cleared the area.

The area is completely vacant as of now. 24 people were detained and released on…

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) June 1, 2024

The ethnic violence that broke out on May 3, 2023 between the Meiteis and the hill-dominant Kuki-Zo tribes had led to massive destruction of properties in both the state capital Imphal valley and hill areas. Even after the security forces had taken control of sensitive areas, armed groups allegedly continued to loot and destroy properties.

Some members of the Meitei community from Churachandpur who are living in relief camps in the valley alleged armed groups in Churachandpur have been sending their “volunteers” to flatten the entire locality and erase all trace of the place having been an area where members of the Meitei community lived.

Sources said the group of people who came to the site on Saturday brought with them daily items to sell, which indicated they wanted to convert the former residential area into a crowded marketplace, despite knowing their actions could ethnic tensions.

Kuki-Zo groups have also for long been alleging that the state government led by Chief Minister N Biren Singh of the BJP, who belongs to the Meitei community, has done nothing to stop miscreants in the valley areas from looting and destroying properties of the tribes.

At present, the Meiteis are living in the valley, while the Kuki-Zo tribes are in the hills – with both not going to areas where each community is dominant.

The Supreme Court on May 24 had said it cannot go by sentiments and has to act as per law while scrapping a petition seeking contempt action against the Manipur Chief Secretary for allegedly not protecting the properties of internally displaced people.

Over 220 have died and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced in Manipur. Most of them are still living in relief camps.

New Delhi:

A terror suspect in Manipur’s hill district Churachandpur has been arrested by the country’s top anti-terror agency in a transnational conspiracy case involving terrorist leaders in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The suspect is being brought to Delhi for questioning and further investigation.

The accused and his network in Myanmar and Bangladesh sought to exploit the Manipur crisis, the anti-terror agency said in a statement.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said the terror accused, Seiminlun Gangte, is instrumental in a “conspiracy with Myanmar- and Bangladesh-based leadership of terror outfits to wage war against India by exploiting the ethnic unrest in Manipur.”

Gangte is also the main accused in the car bomb blast on June 22 in Manipur’s Kwakta that killed a person, police sources told NDTV. A Scorpio SUV parked near a small bridge had exploded on June 22 in what was seen as a serious escalation of violence. The attack had the typical characteristics of trained terrorist hands, sources had said then.

The NIA has not said which terror group Gangte belongs to.

Some 25 Kuki insurgent groups, mostly based in Churachandpur, have signed a trilateral suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the centre, the state and the military, under which the insurgents are to stay at designated camps and their weapons kept in monitored storages. There are allegations, however, that some insurgents of groups that have signed the SoO agreement have been taking part in the Manipur violence.

The NIA had filed this case on its own in July.

ACCUSED ARRESTED BY NIA FROM CHURACHANDPUR DISTRICT (MANIPUR) IN TRANSNATIONAL CONSPIRACY CASE. pic.twitter.com/L0FSfDja85

— NIA India (@NIA_India) September 30, 2023

“Investigation… revealed that Myanmar and Bangladesh-based militant groups have entered into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and to wage war against the government of India,” the NIA said in the statement today.

“And for this purpose, the leadership have been providing funds to buy arms, ammunition and other types of terrorist hardware which are being sourced both, from across the border, as well as from other terrorist outfits active in northeastern states to stoke the current ethnic strife in Manipur,” the NIA said.

Gangte is the second terror suspect to be arrested in Manipur in the past nine days. On September 22, the NIA arrested Moirangthem Anand Singh in connection with a terror case.

Imphal/New Delhi:

Critical patients in Manipur’s violence-hit Churachandpur district need urgent transport to specialist hospitals amid lack of supplies, facilities and medical professionals, a top doctor in the district told NDTV.

Those suffering from serious cardiac problems and conditions like brain haemorrhage need fast intervention, which unfortunately is impossible to get due to no proper transport, the doctor who has been overseeing health emergencies in Churachandpur said, requesting anonymity.

A helicopter service from Churachandpur that was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah in early June flew for some time and stopped. It hasn’t been restarted yet.

“The helicopter service can save a lot of lives. This is the immediate priority,” the doctor told NDTV.

Many patients from the Kuki-Zo tribes who suffered from critical illnesses have died in Churachandpur since they couldn’t be transported to Guwahati in Assam or Aizawl in Mizoram, the doctor said.

Manipur’s capital Imphal has some well-equipped hospitals, but road blockades and the risk of violence are too much of a risk for patients to attempt a drive to Imphal. An ambulance was set on fire in Imphal West’s Iroisemba in early May, killing an 8-year-old child, his mother and a relative.

“The drive to Aizawl takes 12 hours to a full day, sometimes two days if the road conditions do not allow it. We request the central government to restart the helicopter service. That’s the only way to take critical patients fast to good hospitals,” the doctor said, explaining the problems in taking critically ill patients by road in the hilly region in the absence of the helicopter service.

In a district with population in lakhs, the number of specialist medical professionals is too low to handle the sheer number of patients awaiting treatment. Churachandpur urgently needs cardiologists, neurologists and other such doctors.

One solution amid the volatile situation that the centre can consider is to bring such doctors in a one- to two-week rotation to the district, the Churachandpur doctor told NDTV. Diagnostic centres are under a lot of strain as testing equipment need maintenance and material such a fluids and kits run out.

“Even if there is working equipment, you need someone to operate them. There is no one left,” the doctor said.

Road blockades in valley areas do not allow essentials and medical supplies to reach Churachandpur and other hill districts easily. “Whatever comes through is not enough,” the doctor said.

While critical patients need immediate transport, the medium to long-term solution should be to focus on creating high-quality healthcare institutions in Churachandpur, the doctor said, adding even private parties should look to create such an infrastructure.

Manipur has restored mobile internet after over four months. Over 180 have died in the ethnic clashes between the Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis following protests over the Meiteis’ demand for inclusion under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.