Two months after several Kuki villages were burned down and nine Meitei people were killed in the Saikul subdivision of Manipur’s Kangpokpi district, the villages remain inaccessible for journalists. Amid a storm of claims and counterclaims by Meitei and Kuki groups, reporters are forced to rely on selective leaks from security forces whose credibility has been seriously dented during this conflict. It is possibly the only region in Manipur that mediapersons are being physically prevented from accessing even though there are no official orders.
Today is the 110th day of the ethnic & communal conflict in Manipur, India. The state is in an open civil war, and has been effectively split into 3 zones; the Meitei-controlled valley, the Kuki-controlled hills, and the neutral Naga-controlled areas. A buffer no-man’s zone between the Meitei-valley and Kuki-hills is maintained by Indian Army’s Assam Rifles & Gorkha Regiment. Everywhere in Manipur, the gun rules not Constitutional law & order. Killings still occur, just yesssterday 3 Kuki youths were killed by Meitei and their limbs hacked off. That is the level of barbarism people have devolved into.
In the face of this absolute breakdown of the state, Biren Singh continues to be the Chief Minister of Manipur, Amit Shah continues to be the Union home Minister, and Modi continues to be Prime Minister. All ministers of ensuring conflict.