Detentions and negotiations add new dimension to Manipur’s worsening security situation

The alleged detention of two Meiti youngsters by village volunteers in Kuki dominated Kangpokpi district in strife-torn Manipur has worsened the security situation and widened the trust deficit between the Centre and the people of the tiny northeastern state. 

As Manipur sees no end in sight to violence, there is clamour for an early political solution by bringing both sides together for peace talks. 

However, there are no talks but only negotiations for now between the village volunteers of various civil society organisations in Kangpokpi, the state administration and local police as the former refuses to free the detained till their twin demands are met. 

The first demand is to shift the Kuki prisoners lodged in Imphal’s Sajiwa jail to Churachandpur jail. These Kuki prisoners had been arrested for various crimes before violence gripped the state last year and they continue to remain lodged in the central jail in Imphal. Security officials said no accused can be shifted from one jail to another without the order of the court. If the court allows to shift them, the state government and police can consider making necessary security arrangements to shift them, sources said. The village volunteers will have to approach the court earliest by Tuesday . 

The second demand relates to the release of those Kuki prisoners who have been granted bail but continue to remain in jail in the Valley, owing to the unrest and divide between the Hills and the Valley in the last one year. While some Kuki prisoners have been released on bail amidst tight security arrangements, at least ten remain in jail despite being granted bail, sources said.

The detentions and negotiations have added a new dimension to the worsened security situation in Manipur. The last few times people strayed on either side was resolved peacefully with the help of locals, explained an official, but this time the matter has taken a critical turn involving state authorities.

This isn’t all. The pot is boiling in the Valley where people are demanding strict police action in the criminal cases lodged in the detention of the youth. 

The inability of the political establishment, both at the Centre and the State, to bring the two sides to the talking table is making the security situation fragile.

Incidentally, both Kuki and Meiti groups are demanding the removal of security advisor Kuldiep Singh and DGP Rajiv Singh as they feel no relief is coming from the government. Instead, the deployment of central forces has led to more unease and suspicion on both sides. 

What made matters worse recently was the sharing of an uncorroborated intelligence input by the security officials only to retract it later. The input reportedly shared with the chief minister’s office warned about entry of 900 trained Kuki militants from Myanmar allegedly to carry out attacks in the Valley on September 28. However, as the unsubstantiated input led to panic within the public, both the security adviser and the DGP retracted the input saying “there is no basis currently to believe in any such input.” 

However, the demand for their removal is picking up steam again. Questions are being raised over centralisation of power with the security advisor to the chief minister, causing further unease among different agencies and armed forces. 

The absence of a full-time governor in Manipur is also raising eyebrows. At the moment, Lakshman Prasad Acharya, the governor of Assam, holds additional charge of Manipur but security officials point towards the need for a full time governor with experience of serving in the northeast.

Meanwhile, protests continue in both Valley and Hills as Meiti organisations demand removal of senior officers for failing to restore peace and normalcy while the Manipur Tribals' Forum in Delhi (MTFD) are upset over the portrayal of the Kuki-Zomi-Hmar community as using drone warfare and highly sophisticated weaponry. They claim such allegations are part of a larger narrative aimed at justifying the state's militarization. 

It is a fact that multiple security agencies have boots on the ground in Manipur, including Indian Army and central armed police forces besides intelligence agencies. But for long lasting peace, there is a unanimous view that the solution has to come from New Delhi in the form of peace talks at the earliest.