New Delhi:

Security forces today gave a demonstration of an anti-drone system at work in violence-hit Manipur, days after a man was killed in weaponised drone attacks launched by suspected Kuki insurgents from the hills near the valley district Imphal West.

Sunday’s attacks, which the Manipur Police said were carried out by suspected Kuki insurgents, were the first recorded use of weaponised drones to drop bombs on civilians by suspected insurgents in India.

In a post on X, the Manipur Police said the Assam Rifles has deployed a few anti-drone systems in the fringe areas “to repel any rogue drones”.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), too, has tested an anti-drone system. The central force will bring more such systems soon, the police said.

The state police has also started the process of acquiring anti-drone systems to tackle aerial threats.

“AR [Assam Rifles] has deployed a few anti-drone systems in the state at fringe areas to repel any rogue drones. CRPF has also tested one anti-drone system and given it to the force deployed in the state. Some more anti-drone guns are being brought to the state by CRPF shortly,” the police said.

“The state police has also started the process for procurement of an anti-drone system to enhance its security measures and tackle threats from drones effectively,” the police said.

AR has deployed a few anti-drone systems in the State at fringe areas to repel any rogue drones. CRPF has also tested one anti-drone system and given it to the force deployed in the State. Some more anti-drone guns are being brought to the State by CRPF shortly.
The State Police… pic.twitter.com/UuWe1F5GpB

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) September 7, 2024

The Manipur Chief Minister’s office had on two occasions raised concerns over the likelihood of weaponised drone attacks in the state, two letters sent by the Chief Minister’s secretaries to the police chief and security agencies in the last seven months show.

The Manipur Police chief Rajiv Singh had visited Imphal West district’s Kadangband and Koutruk on Sunday and Monday. He has been overseeing large-scale combing operations in the foothills. He spoke with villagers and assured them of security.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills near the Meitei-dominated Imphal West area. The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Imphal/New Delhi:

Six people were killed in fresh violence this morning in Manipur’s Jiribam district, the police said. Suspected Kuki insurgents attacked Nungchappi village in the district 229 km from the state capital Imphal, killing a 63-year-old man identified as Yurembam Kulendra Singha. The attack came a day after an elderly man from the valley-dominant Meitei community, who was offering prayers, was killed in a rocket-propelled bomb attack by Kuki insurgents in Manipur’s Moirang town, according to the police.

The five others were killed in a gunfight between armed groups of the Meitei community and the hill-dominant Kuki tribes, sources said. These groups call themselves “village defence volunteers”.

The Jiribam Superintendent of Police (SP) and a police team rushed to the area, but were fired at, the police said in the statement, adding the team “retaliated strongly and controlled the firing.”

In Imphal, the Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) K Kabib today told reporters, “… Yesterday, some Kuki militants attacked and fired at some fringe areas including Bishnupur and Churachandpur border. In response to that, combined teams of the security forces conducted combing operations. They have destroyed two bunkers which was previously occupied by militants. After that, there was a long-range rocket fire from the hills by Kuki militants at Moirang, in which one senior citizen was killed and six others were injured.”

“Today morning, the Kuki militants attacked a village in Jiribam, killing a senior citizen. The militants kept firing and ran away. Some village volunteers retaliated, and when the Jiribam police reached the area, they were fired at, after which the police also fired back,” Mr Kabib said.

Jiribam is where Meitei and Hmar leaders met for peace talks last month, along with security forces commanders. They had given a joint statement agreeing to work for peace. Churachandpur-based Kuki groups, however, had objected to the peace talks, alleging the peace talk parties did not represent their interests and met only at Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s bidding.

The Hmar Inpui, however, declared it would not recognise the peace initiative and warned the individuals who participated in the meeting to “stop their blind and selfish efforts”. The Hmar Inpui had said these leaders appeared to be bowing to the “whims and fancies of a divisive and communal government under the leadership of Biren Singh…”

Anti-Drone System, Chopper Patrol

An anti-drone system has been deployed, the police said, nearly a week after suspected Kuki insurgents attacked villages in Imphal West district with weaponised drones – the first time suspected insurgents used drone attacks on Indian soil.

The police said that in a multi-pronged approach, army helicopters are keeping an eye on the ground, while combing operations in “suspected areas” in both the hills and the valley are going on. A team is also monitoring social media posts to catch instigators of violence, the police said.

The security forces have destroyed several bunkers in the foothills, the police said.

On Friday evening, crowds tried to loot weapons from the 2nd and 7th Manipur Rifles camps in the state capital Imphal, but they were prevented from doing so by the security forces, who fired blank rounds and tear gas, the police said. Two policemen were injured in firing by some people from the crowd, the police said. The two injured personnel have been identified as inspector Kh Henery, and constable Issac Gangmei. Both are in hospital.

Protesters in Imphal valley told reporters they were disappointed with the state and the central government over the drone and rocket attacks, and civilians were left with no choice but to defend themselves.

“Who in their right mind would want to loot weapons? People are being killed in their homes, despite the presence of over 50,000 central force personnel. A Meitei woman was shot by a sniper. An elderly man was killed in a rocket attack,” Imphal resident M Nirmala Devi, who came out to protest on Friday evening, told NDTV.

Guwahati:

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a top body of the Meitei community, on Friday called a “public emergency” and urged the people to remain indoors, claiming “the government failed to provide security to the common people”.

COCOMI coordinator Thokchom Somorendro, announcing the “public emergency” on Friday, said all schools, colleges and educational institutions must be shut indefinitely till the “situation improves”.

He said the security forces had totally failed in discharging their duty and combating Kuki militants.

“Now, the public have to secure themselves. We have declared a public emergency immediately. Because it has now become unsafe for the public to move outdoors,” the COCOMI leader told the media.

Earlier on Friday, thousands of men and women in five districts of Imphal Valley took part in a human chain rally to protest the recent drone and gun attacks in Manipur that killed three people, including a 31-year-old woman and injured 17 others, including the woman’s minor daughter.

Carrying placards and banners, participants in the human chain expressed their discontent over the government’s steps in dealing with Kuki militants.

An elderly man who was offering prayers was killed in a rocket-propelled bomb attack in Manipur’s Moirang town today, the police said. Five others including a 13-year-old girl were injured in the attack on the lakeside town in Bishnupur district, 35 km from the state capital Imphal. She is the second minor injured in attacks in the last five days. The first minor was injured in a drone attack by suspected Kuki insurgents on Sunday, the police and the home department had said.

Imphal/New Delhi:

An MLA of the ruling BJP in ethnic violence-hit Manipur has called for banning a Kuki group that has been spearheading the call for a separate administration carved out of Manipur. The MLA, Rajkumar Imo Singh, who is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, appealed to the Home Ministry to ban the Kuki group Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) alleging the group has been taking financial aid to buy lethal drones, bombs and ammunition.

The MLA, who belongs to the valley-dominant Meitei community, in a post on X uploaded purported photos of a person with an identity card under the name ‘Haopu Vaiphei’ and the words ‘ITLF Drone Squad’.

“… Who is this person with ITLF ID and who all are training these people to attack innocent civilians?” Imo Singh said.

He also posted a purported ITLF-issued receipt that claimed the Bnei Menashe community sent Rs 3.9 lakh “financial assistance to the ITLF defence department”. The Bnei Menashe refers to some Kuki and Mizo people who claim descent from one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel.

Imo Singh made the allegations after two civilians were killed and nine were injured in firing and drone attacks by suspected Kuki insurgents in Manipur on Sunday.

It was the first recorded use of drones to drop bombs on civilians by suspected insurgents in India.

On Monday, another drone dropped two bombs in Imphal West district’s Senjam Chirang, leaving three injured, the police said. The bombs tore through the roof of a house, visuals taken by the police show.

“As a legislator of the state of Manipur, I seek for the organisation namely ITLF to be declared as a banned organisation. If these pictures are all true, if they are taking financial assistance to procure lethal drones, other arms and ammunition including bombs to attack innocent people, they have to be banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,” Imo Singh said.

“As I said earlier, it’s not just an ethnic conflict; it is an act of terror, an act of waging war against our country, the state of Manipur, its people, who are the citizens of our country,” he added.

As a Legislator of the State of Manipur, I seek for the organisation namely ITLF to be declared as a banned organisation. If these pictures are all true, if they are taking financial assistance to procure lethal drones, other arms and ammunition including bombs to attack innocent… pic.twitter.com/qD86u7U26O

— Rajkumar Imo Singh (@imosingh) September 3, 2024

NDTV could not independently verify the visuals posted by Imo Singh.

No Credible Evidence: Kuki Groups

The ITLF and other key Kuki groups in separate statements called the allegations of Kuki-Zo tribes using weaponised drones to attack the Meiteis totally unfounded. The Kuki groups said the entire incident was meant to divert attention from the audio tape leak controversy linked to the Chief Minister.

In the purported audio tapes, which have been submitted to a probe panel under the Home Ministry, the Chief Minister allegedly admitted he started the Manipur ethnic conflict. Those who gave the tapes to the probe panel reportedly gave affidavits stating the material was genuine, and sought protection.

The Biren Singh government has called the audio tapes “doctored”, and meant to derail peace talks.

“Drones are readily available in the market; obtaining them does not require involvement from outside the country. Licypriya Kangujam, a Meitei climate activist, publicly stated on social media that she has procured drones equipped with bomb-dropping capabilities from the US to bomb the Kuki-Zo inhabited areas…” the ITLF said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) said the state Home Department’s statement on Sunday saying the drone attacks were launched “reportedly by Kuki militants” were totally unfounded, lacking any credible evidence.

“It is beyond doubt that the irresponsible statement from the Home Department was intended to create confusion among the masses and the media, and to create a misleading narrative that distorts the facts and unfairly maligns the Kuki community,” the KIM said in a statement.

The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) and the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) also condemned what they called false allegations by the Biren Singh government and its police on the drone attacks. The KSO alleged Meiteis have been using drones to attack the Kuki tribes since December 2023. “… But nobody pays heed until an allegation of the same was levied by Meiteis in the recent incident…” the KSO said.

Police Chief Visits Affected Areas

The Manipur Director General of Police Rajiv Singh on Tuesday visited the villages in Imphal West district where the drone attacks were reported. The police chief is overseeing large-scale combing operations in the foothills. He spoke with villagers and assured them of security.

“This (drone attack) is a new thing. We are in touch with experts, including the National Security Guards (NSG). We have formed a multi-agency committee to make a plan on countering the drone threat. The experts are coming to Manipur,” the DGP said.

There are many villages of the Kuki tribes in the hills near the Meitei-dominated valley district Imphal West. The Kuki tribes and the Meiteis have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Imphal/New Delhi:

A woman was killed, and her 12-year-old daughter was injured in firing by suspected insurgents in Manipur today, sources said. Two policemen were also injured; both are out of danger, sources said. One of the policemen was hit in the leg by a shrapnel from a bomb dropped by a drone, police sources said, adding at least two weaponised drones were seen. Other security forces are yet to confirm the sighting of the “weaponised drones”.

The firing started from Nakhujang village in Kangpokpi towards Kadangband in Imphal West at 2.35 pm, sources said. 

Residents in Kadangband said at least one drone dropped a “bomb” on a house in the area. They have shared purported visuals of the drone dropping a bomb, while people ran for cover. Sources in the security forces, however, said they are yet to look into this claim.

Some people guarding their houses in Kadangband retaliated, sources said.

The woman, identified as Ngangbam Surbala, 31, was brought dead at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in the state capital Imphal, 45 km from Kangpokpi.

Kangpokpi is a Kuki-dominated area, while Imphal West is in the Meitei-dominated valley. The Kuki tribes and the Meitei community have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues.

While members of the Meitei community claimed “Kuki terrorists” killed the woman, social media users from the Kuki tribes alleged the Meiteis began firing at Kuki villages in Kangpokpi first.

Both sides have shared purported visuals of the firing from different angles. What’s a first – if confirmed by the security forces – would be the use of the weaponised drones in Manipur.

The drones may have been used as spotters and to direct fire, while the crude artillery “pumpi guns” fired the shells which landed right near where the drones were flying, sources said, adding this may have given an impression that the bombs were dropped by the drones.

Imphal/Guwahati:

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and other leaders have condemned the attack on the house of a BJP spokesperson from the Thadou tribe in the state’s Churachandpur district.

Over two dozen people, some of them armed, had vandalised the house of the state BJP spokesperson T Michael Lamjathang Haokip on Sunday night. They fired shots in the air and set two rooms on fire, Mr Haokip had said, adding no one was injured. Four families displaced by the violence in Manipur also live in four small structures at his family plot, he said.

“The attack carried out on the family members of Michael Lamjathang, a leader of the Thadou community, one of the oldest among the ethnic tribes of Manipur, as well as a BJP spokesperson, by vandalising his house was an act of cowardice,” the Chief Minister said in a post on X.

“I consider this personal harm being put on one of our recognised tribes as a direct challenge to the unity and integrity of the state. Attacks on any particular community of the recognised tribes of Manipur, as well as the attack on the family of the BJP spokesperson, are condemned in the strongest terms. We will initiate appropriate legal action against the culprits,” Mr Singh said.

The attack carried out on the family members of Micheal Lamjathang a leader of the Thadou community, one of the oldest among the ethnic tribes of Manipur, as well as a BJP spokesperson by vandalizing his house was an act of cowardice.
I consider this personal harm being put on…

— N. Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) August 27, 2024

State minister Govindas Konthoujam said the attack on Mr Haokip exposed “the mentality of those who, unable to engage in logical debate, resort to violence.” “… This cowardly act of violence against his home and family is not just an assault on an individual, but on the entire Thadou community and our civilization,” the seven-time MLA from Bishnupur said in a post on X.

1/2 I strongly condemn the barbaric attack on Thadou student leader & BJP Manipur Spokesperson Michael Lamjathang Haokip in Peniel village, Churachandpur. This cowardly act of violence against his home & family is not just an assault on an individual, but on the

— Govindas Konthoujam (@KonthoujamG) August 26, 2024

Mr Haokip on Tuesday said he has been raising awareness about his tribe, Thadou, being inaccurately referred to as a Kuki tribe amid the ethnic tension in Manipur. He said it was the second time his house in Churachandpur was attacked, allegedly by some people who do not accept the Thadou tribe’s distinct identity.

“Around 30 people barged in at 10.30 pm. They poured kerosene on the walls and burned two rooms. They also fired many rounds in the air to scare our neighbours and other residents in the neighbourhood,” Mr Haokip told NDTV. “Everybody in the area is angry at the attackers,” he said.

Mr Haokip belongs to the family of a Thadou tribe village chief, under whose area some 70 families live in as many houses. Apart from their main family house, there are four small structures on the plot where people displaced by the ethnic violence are living.

“The attackers also threatened the displaced people to leave,” Mr Haokip said.

The attack at the Churachandpur house of the BJP spokesperson from the Thadou tribe comes days after three MLAs from among the 10, who have been demanding a separate administration carved out of Manipur, clarified that they want their own tribes to be called by their correct names, instead of being associated only with the term “Kuki-Zo”.

On social media, the three MLAs have received threats of boycott and other “consequences” for allegedly weakening the Kuki tribes’ resolve to persuade the Centre to create a separate administration. One of the BJP MLAs told NDTV everyone should feel free to state facts about the tribe they belong to. “I fail to understand why threats are coming my way for simply saying to which tribe I and the people I represent belong,” the leader told NDTV, requesting anonymity.

Mr Haokip is also a leadership team member of the Manipur-based Thadou Students’ Association (TSA) and the newly formed Thadou Community International, or TCI, a global body with professionals from the Thadou tribe living in nine countries including the US, the UK, Norway, Australia, and Malaysia, among others, as members. The TCI in a statement said the attack happened barely a few hours after Mr Haokip participated in a panel discussion in local media on the topic ‘Kuki supremacy and its agenda.’

“It was also an incident due to the fallout of relentless attacks on Thadou community and Thadou leaders by the Churachandpur-based Kuki supremacist-made fake Thadou Tribe Council (TTC), who have been actively engaging in disinformation campaign and violent rhetoric against Thadou, even boasting to know the perpetrators of the violent attack on Michael Lamjathang’s home last year,” the TCI said.

On August 5, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had met representatives of several small tribes and heard their concerns about bigger tribes trying to suppress their identities.

During the discussion and voting on demands for grants on the last day of the Manipur assembly session on August 12, the Chief Minister had said “violence was perpetrated by some, not all, people.”

“Not every Thadou, Paite, Hmar had a hand in the violence. You have seen, Hmar people spoke so well (in the peace meeting), we had tears, they too had tears, that all this happened due to misunderstandings,” Mr Singh said, referring to the August 1 peace meeting between Meitei and the Hmar tribe representatives in Jiribam, where they agreed to work for normalcy nearly two months after ethnic violence that began over a year ago reached the district bordering Assam.

Imphal/New Delhi:

Three MLAs from among the 10 who have been demanding a separate administration carved out of Manipur have clarified that they want their own tribes to be called by their correct names, instead of being associated only with the term “Kuki-Zo”.

The 10 MLAs including seven from the BJP have so far been described in the press and social media as belonging to the “Kuki-Zo” tribes. The three MLAs, however, in statements in the last two days said the term “Kuki-Zo” is not adequate to refer to their own tribes.

The three MLAs from the Hmar, Paite, and Vaiphei tribes who issued the statements are LM Khaute, Ngursanglur Sanate, and Vungzagin Valte.

“… I would like to reaffirm that the most suitable and inclusive term to describe our community in the media, social media and so on is ‘Kuki-Zomi-Hmar… I cannot accept anything that excludes ‘Zomi’ and any other term that describes our identity in such press statements,” Mr Khaute said in the statement.

Mr Sanate said he will not endorse any platform, organisation or statement that excludes the term “Hmar” tribe.

The third MLA, Mr Valte, in a strongly worded statement said it has become “pivotal” for him to declare that he is from the Paite tribe belonging to the Zomi community, that Zomi is an accepted nomenclature as it reflects the “true historical, culture, and social identity of our people.”

“… The recent usage of ‘Kuki-Zo’ is perceived by many within my represented communities as non-inclusive and assimilative… Therefore, I cannot, in good conscience, accept and endorse any term that doesn’t respect the individuality and dignity of all the groups that form the fabric of my constituency,” said Mr Valte.

The three MLAs’ statements come days after a section of the Thadou tribes represented by the Manipur-based Thadou Students’ Association (TSA) formed a global platform to look into critical issues facing the community, particularly in Manipur.

The TSA has said Thadou is a distinct tribe and people with their own distinct identity, language and culture. “… At some point other people may have called Thadous with different names… that does not change the fact that we are Thadou and we should be called Thadou respectfully,” the TSA said in a statement on August 5.

Manipur BJP spokesperson T Michael Lamjathang Haokip, who is from the Thadou tribe, in a post on X said the three Hmar, Paite, and Vaiphei MLAs’ statements “have explicitly stated they are not Kuki, raising questions about the true identity of Kuki.”

“… The remaining 7 MLAs should adhere to their tribe identities to reach a common consensus. The individual statements of the 3 MLAs signify their rejection of Kuki supremacists… The disunited Zo tribal groups, united only in their desire to remove the Chief Minister and hostility against the Meitei, must cease targeting innocent lives and work towards a peaceful solution. The proxy unity aimed at ousting the Chief Minister for political gains should not come at the cost of innocent lives and communal harmony,” Mr Michael said.

During the discussion and voting on demands for grants on the last day of the Manipur assembly session on August 12, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said “violence was perpetrated by some, not all, people.”

“Not every Thadou, Paite, Hmar had a hand in the violence. You have seen, Hmar people spoke so well (in the peace meeting), we had tears, they too had tears, that all this happened due to misunderstandings,” Mr Singh had said, referring to the August 1 peace meeting between Meitei and the Hmar tribe representatives in Jiribam, where they agreed to work for normalcy nearly two months after ethnic violence that began over a year ago reached the district bordering Assam.

The clashes 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 administration carved out of Manipur, citing discrimination and unequal share of resources and power with the Meiteis.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court Wednesday took a strong note of an undertrial prisoner lodged in a Manipur jail not being taken to a hospital for treatment just because he belonged to the minority ‘Kuki’ community, saying it does not “trust the State”.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made some strong observations against the State while hearing a plea filed by Lunkhongam Haokip that he was suffering from piles and tuberculosis and was not taken to hospital by jail officials despite having severe backache.

“We do not trust the State…The accused was not taken to hospital because he is from the Kuki community. So sad! We direct him to be examined now. If the medical report reveals something serious, we will take you to task,” the bench said.

The counsel for Mr Haokip claimed the jail officials did not pay heed to persistent requests for medical help.

The bench perused an order of the Manipur High Court and found that the undertrial prisoner was not taken to hospital since he was from Kuki community and “shifting him to a hospital will be hazardous taking into account the law and order situation”.

Manipur has been in the grip of an ethnic conflict between the minority Kuki and majority Meitei communities.

The bench directed the jail superintendent and the state authorities “to make necessary arrangements for his transportation to the Gauhati Medical College and get him examined therein. The medical exam shall be as regards piles, TB, tonsillitis, abdominal pain as well as problems in lower lumbar spine”.

It sought a detailed medical report on or before July 15 and asked the state to bear all the expenses, including the treatment cost.

Manipur descended into chaos and violence in May last year over a high court order directing the state government to consider including the non-tribal Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

More than 170 people have been killed and several hundred others injured since ethnic violence first broke out in the state on May 3 last year when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for ST status.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The total income loss for the State in the farm sector during the violence was estimated at ₹226.5 crore. File image for representation.
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR

GUWAHATI: Manipur’s Agriculture Department has come up with a crop compensation package of ₹38.06 crore as relief for the farmers affected by the ethnic conflict that broke out on May 3. 

The ethnic violence between the tribal Kuki and the non-tribal Meitei communities has claimed more than 200 lives and displaced about 60,000 people. The turmoil also prevented farmers in the violence-prone areas from tending to their fields, resulting in crop loss. 

Officials said the package was estimated on the basis of an independent survey conducted by Loumee Shinmee Apunba Lup, a farmers’ body which estimated that paddy crop on a total of 9,719 hectares of land on the periphery of Imphal Valley could fail as farmers are afraid to go to the fields because of sporadic firing by armed miscreants from higher grounds. 

The total income loss for the State in the farm sector during the violence was estimated at ₹226.5 crore, with rice accounting for 93.36% of the total agriculture and allied activities followed by livestock farming. 

Worst affected

“Of the five crisis-hit valley districts [Bishnupur, Imphal East, Imphal West, Kakching, and Thoubal], Bishnupur is the worst affected in terms of agricultural land area comprising 5,288 hectares, constituting 54.4% of the total land area of 9,718 hectares followed by Imphal East with 1,770 hectares and Imphal West,” the report said. 

Bishnupur, which shares its boundary with Churachandpur district, has been one of the most vulnerable districts. Farmers of Phubala, Sunusiphai, Naranseina, Khoirentak, Kumbi, Sagang, Torbung, Wangoo, and Khoijuman Khunou villages have been the worst hit, some of them having sustained bullet injuries. 

“The current situation is such that our farmers are back to square one. Despite the security arrangements, they fear to venture out to the fields to take care of the paddy plants,” president of the farmers’ body Mutum Churamani said. 

He said the farmers were scared to go to their fields located mostly near the foothills, from where intermittent firing had been taking place over the past five months. 

“With security arrangements, we somehow managed to send our farmers in July to initiate tilling and prepare for sowing. A State-level monitoring committee was later formed for this purpose,” Mr. Churamani said. 

Apart from the commissioner and director of the Agriculture Department, the committee comprised members of five farmers’ organisations. Following the advice of the committee, the Manipur government started providing security cover for the farmers during the kharif season for working in the fields. 

About 2,000 security personnel had been diverted for this purpose by downgrading VIP security cover with district commissioners of affected districts appealing to the peasants not to venture out for farming activities without security arrangements considering the volatile situation. 

State Agriculture Commissioner R.K. Dinesh Singh said that in order to mitigate the current crisis, the department approached the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for funding a crop compensation package as relief for the farmers whose livelihoods are threatened by the ethnic violence. 

“The MHA accepted the proposal of the department for a crop compensation package of ₹38.06 crore. We want to speed up the process of releasing the relief package to the affected farmers by November,” he said.