Pattern behind the fresh wave of rampage Eyeing to control Jiri

The Kuki militants are on the rampage. And this stretches back to November 7 at Mongbung village in Jiribam district which was the precursor of things to come in the next few days with the retaliation coming out in all its ferocity at Zairon Hmar village in the same district in which a young housewife, a mother of three, was killed on November 8. The theatre of conflict shifted from the westernmost corner of the State to Bishnupur in which another young housewife was killed in firing by Kuki militants at Wathalambi Santipur while she was working in a paddy field. This was on November 9 and while Manipur was coming to terms with the deaths of two young women, all within 24 hours of each other, ten Kuki militants were killed in a clash with CRPF personnel at Jiribam. After the dust over the shootout between the Kuki militants and the CRPF had settled down, came the news that six persons, including three children and three women have been taken hostage by the Kuki militants. The aggression is complete and perhaps the strike at Jiribam coupled with the prize of six hostages has emboldened the Kuki militants to take their level of aggression one or two notches up and nothing illustrates this better than the attacks on goods laden trucks bound for Noney and earlier the injuries inflicted on a young Tangkhul man while working in the field at Shanti Khongbal on November 11. Not surprisingly a number of Tangkhul civil society organisations have come out strongly against the Shanti Khongbal attack  and the nature of pellet injuries sustained by the victim more than suggest that the gun could have been fired only from close range. Pellet guns are understood to have a firing range not exceeding 1200 feet, which more than suggest that the shots were fired from close range. This is where any question of mistaken identity may be brushed aside and one wonders what steps the Government may have taken up to deal with the situation. On the other hand at Noney side, the Rongmei Naga Students’ Organisation, Manipur (RNSOM) has taken the attacks on the Noney bound goods trucks seriously and has gone to the extent of announcing that supply to Kuki villages lying in the interior parts of Noney would be boycotted or stopped. This is how things stand as of today and even as Manipur has come to grips with the fact that the six persons held hostage by the Kuki militants are yet to be traced, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has been reimposed in areas that come under six police stations-Sekmai police station, Lamsang police station, Lamlai police station, Jiribam police station, Leimakhong police station and Moirang police station. Places which have been the epicentres of the ongoing ethnic clash and this should go a long way in answering who has been the aggressor, the attacker and predator.
It remains to be seen whether the reimposition of the infamous Army Act will have any positive impact on the ongoing clash or not, but it is not clear whether Delhi has taken note of the pattern emerging out of the fresh wave of violence at Jiribam. The western most point of Manipur and the gateway to the rest of the country, Jiribam occupies a strategic position. The very fact that out of the 10 Kuki militants gunned down in the clash with the CRPF personnel on November 11 two have been confirmed to have come all the way from Chura-chandpur, should underline the intent with which the Kuki militants want to control the town. During the Naga-Kuki clash which started sometime in 1992, all the Nagas were driven out from the border town of Moreh. When the present clash with the Meiteis started from the evening of May 3, 2023, no efforts were spared to flush out all the Meiteis from Moreh, a place of immense potential given the Act East Policy of the Government of India. The pattern in the new found aggression of the Kuki militants should be understood and highlighted before the world to see and digest. In doing this, it is also extremely important to ensure that Manipur does not step on the toes of anyone, especially the community which has remained neutral so far and stick by the age old ethics of Chainarol.