Police Commandos Targeted During Manipur Unrest
Security personnel during an operation in Manipur. Photo: PTI
On Oct. 31, suspected insurgents ambushed a group of police commandos sent to the Indian state of Manipur, resulting in a shootout. The situation ended when the Assam Rifles, the paramilitary force responsible for security in the broader Northeast of India, successfully rescued the police from the situation. The number of people injured or dead is unconfirmed as of now. The commandos went to Manipur mere hours after suspected insurgents shot Chingtham Anand, a senior police officer in Manipur, dead.
The current violence in Manipur follows six months of sustained violence in the region between two ethnic groups in the state: the Meitei and Kuki. The Kukis, who are regarded as a scheduled tribe by the Indian government, receive priority consideration for government jobs and education. The violence started in May, when the Kukis objected to the Meiteis, the dominant ethnic group in Manipur, getting the same designation. Meiteis, who are better off as a community, getting the same status as the Kukis would result in increased competition for jobs within the state.
The protests quickly turned violent. Within one month, 75 people were killed and over 60,000 people were displaced. In July, a video of a Meitei mob parading two naked Kuki women throughout the streets went viral. Following subsequent allegations that the mob gang raped the women, a national outcry forced the government to increase its intervention in the region.
Unidentified insurgents torch two buildings in Manipur. Photo: PTI
When the violence started in May, the opposition parties accused the Indian government of remaining conspicuously silent on the issue. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, the second most powerful government official, visited the area on June 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said the incident "shamed India" and that "no guilty will be spared" in late July, after the video went viral and months after the conflict began. The Indian government proceeded to up its military presence in the region and imposed intermittent internet blackouts in the area in the months following the declaration.
The Kukis accused the ruling party – the Hindu-dominated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – of prioritizing support for the Hindu Meiteis over the Christian Kukis. As a result, they reacted harshly to government intervention in the region, which complicated the government’s response. The police commandos that arrived in the state to restore order were strongly condemned by Kuki civil society groups as an attempt to start indiscriminate operations against Kuki civilians. The Meiteis also mistrusted the Assam Rifles, another paramilitary government organization, of siding with the Kukis in the conflict.
With tensions in the region only growing, and more people becoming affected, international concern is growing over the region. Observers compared the current violence in Manipur to the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region – a conflict that displaced millions and contributed to the destabilization within Sudan as a whole. It is imperative that the Indian government put more resources into the region to prevent the spread of unrest.