CURFEW HOURS WERE drawing near as I drove out of the Imphal airport on May 25. Outside, youngsters rode bicycles, women walked the pavements, and people chatted in shops.
I headed to Bishnupur, around 30km south of Imphal. It was here that groups affiliated to the Meitei community first formed a human chain in February demanding to be included in the scheduled tribes list. The issue escalated in April, after the Manipur High Court directed the state government to send a recommendation to the Centre favouring the protesters. Ethnic clashes soon erupted between the Meiteis in the valley and the Kuki tribals in the surrounding hills. More than 70 people across Manipur died in clashes that started on May 3, forcing the government to impose curfew and issue shoot-at-sight orders in violent pockets.
By the time I reached Bishnupur, dusk had fallen. An Army contingent was stopped by a human chain of Meitei women. “You come here and kill our people?” shouted the women, most of them elderly. “You side with Kuki terrorists—you have no rights to stay here.”
A junior commissioned officer in the contingent greeted them with folded hands. “No harsh responses, please,” he told his colleagues. “The protesters are just desperate.”
The JCO told the women, and the men behind the human chain, that they had come to save people of all ethnicities. Many Meiteis in Bishnupur district were caught in conflict zones, he said, and the troops were trying to rescue them. “We need to save the Kukis as well,” said the JCO. “But we are not siding with them.”
The contingent was held up for more than 30 minutes before it was finally allowed to pass. Apparently, it was part of the brigade that had been deployed in the district to prevent further Kuki-Meitei clashes.
This story is from the June 11, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 11, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
