By

Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon

There is a Manipuri proverb “Khudongthiba ama nanthoknaba theibada atoppa khudong thiba ama thengnaba” meaning “Running away from one problem and getting into another trouble”. This has been the unending saga of turmoil and violence in Manipur.

The current, ongoing crisis in Manipur began in May 2023, triggered by intense ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities following a Manipur High Court directive regarding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The violence escalated after a “tribal solidarity march” on May 3, 2023, protesting the potential inclusion of Meiteis in the ST category, which sparked widespread violence, deaths, and mass displacement.

Manipur’s problems began with drug problems in the early 1970s, with the preference for heroin, marking a shift from traditional opium use. The crisis intensified due to its proximity to Myanmar, the world’s second-largest illicit opium producer, with significant trafficking routes and high addiction rates developing by the 1980s.

Heroin trafficking led to poppy cultivation, leading to narco-insurgency, then into arms trafficking. This led to the revival of the Pumpi guns which originated from the resistance movements of 1917-18, when they were crafted with indigenous, materials to fight British colonial rule. Pumpi guns are largely fabricated from parts of uprooted electric poles, water pipes, and galvanized iron pipes. The technology has been passed down through generations, especially among the Kuki tribal groups. They are chambered for both medium (20-57mm) and large-calibre ammunition (greater than 57mm) and may be either direct or indirect fire weapons.

From crude Pumpi guns, the arsenal with the various tribes include INSAS, AK-type, and M-16 assault rifles, as well as No. 36 hand grenades, which are looted from the government stockpiles and armouries. In addition, there are Type 81 Chinese Assault Rifles and AK-56 rifles. Chinese hand grenades, shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenade (RPG) rounds of 80mm and 85mm diameter, originating from China and Russia, have been recovered by security forces. Chinese Baofeng wireless sets and communication devices have also been recovered from insurgent hideouts.

Human trafficking, in children, girls and women, added another humanitarian crisis. Trafficking is largely a borderless organized crime. The problem is that human trafficking, being a highly secretive and clandestine trade, remains mostly under-reported and untraced. In Manipur, Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) are specialized task forces designed to combat the state’s role as a major “source” and “transit” point for trafficking. These units operate under the Manipur Police and are established at the district level to handle prevention, rescue, and investigation. AHTUs are mandated to be established in all districts of Manipur, functioning as specialized police stations for registering and investigating trafficking cases.

In the early 1900s British and Scottish Christian proselytizers, made Manipur a hunting ground for getting new converts. Today there are innumerable Christian caste outfits like Protestants (mostly Baptist), Catholics, the Reformed Presbyterian Church North-East India Synod, the Presbyterian Church in India and the Church of Christ, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Imphal, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in Manipur. Today, instead of missionaries, foreign terror trainers from America, Ukraine, and Russia, are training tribals in use of drone technology, amid whispers of a separate Christian country being carved out, affecting Bangladesh and parts of many North-eastern States, are in the news.

In May 2023, the Hindu Meiteis and the Christian Kuki-Zo tribes got engulfed in an internecine conflict. It has expanded and a new crisis is brewing between Kukis and Nagas. Kukis and Tangkhul Nagas, and Zeliangrong Nagas are now in a dangerous faceoff. Like other Naga tribes in Manipur, the Zeliangrongs claim that the lands on which the Kukis are now settled were originally theirs, only leased out to the latter. The militant Zeliangrong United Front waged a campaign of destroying poppy fields that they claim were cultivated on their lands by Kukis, which is becoming the new flashpoint.

The Tangkhul Nagas have also staked their claim on the land occupied by the Kukis. It is claimed that the lands were only leased to the Kukis, and these leased lands still belong to Tangkhuls. The Kukis, however, counter-claim that all the lands they are now settled on are rightfully theirs. The current Kuki-Tangkhul tensions began building over compensation claims for lands the government had acquired for broadening of the Imphal-Ukhrul highway.

Another irritant is that new land regulations under the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 are not extended into the hill districts. Instead, the customary laws of indigenous tribes are still in vogue there. The current land administration system is roughly modelled on what independent India inherited from the British wherein the hills were left un-administered, labelled as ‘excluded areas’ or ‘partially excluded areas’.

In the above background, arises the demand for a separate Kukiland.  Driven by the Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) and militant groups under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact, the movement seeks to cover over 60% of Manipur’s land area, including districts like Churachandpur, Chandel, and Sadar Hills, arguing that the hill regions are distinct from the valley.

Presently, the ruling party in Manipur is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which holds the majority in the 60-member state assembly. Following a period of president’s rule and ethnic unrest, senior BJP leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh was elected as the new Chief Minister, replacing N. Biren Singh, to lead the government. Whether, the new dispensation will have the ability to peacefully resolve Manipur’s complex cocktail of tribal conflicts, drug-trafficking, arms and human trafficking, land claims and the demand for a Kukiland, remains to be seen.

Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon IRS officer and former Director General of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN), is on the Advisory Board of many online communities specializing in geo-politics, defence and narco-terrorism. He is published across several newspapers as a voice on current affairs, narcotics, and narco-terrorism, and has over 425 articles to his credit.