The Indian state has been unable to halt the fighting and killing between two communities in Manipur, while it can negotiate ceasefires with various armed revolutionary groups. People have been dying and suffering every day for the past 12 months. The Prime Minister of India has not been to Manipur since he came for an election campaign in 2022. During this infamous conflict, the Home Minister made two trips to Manipur, one of which was for the election campaign.
However, there has been no change since his visit, regardless of how much he promised to the people of Manipur.
The people of Manipur also want the Prime Minister to visit Manipur so that the conflict will come to an end. However, whether the Prime Minister of India comes to Manipur does not matter. The only thing that matters is to end the conflict. If the prime minister or home minister had wished to end it, it could have been done earlier by sitting in Delhi as well.
Their visit to Manipur is not special if it cannot stop the conflict.
We don’t demand any minister to visit Manipur. We demand that the crisis be resolved soon. Who supplies the arms and ammunition in the areas where it is surrounded by the Indian armed forces? Paramilitary forces surround Manipur. People have the arms and ammunition to continue fighting and killing each other.
Yes, people picked up arms to defend themselves, but the state could not protect the lives and liberty of the people. But why does the Indian state still allow the people to kill and fight each other? Bullets and ammunition are no longer an issue. Who supplies them? Who brings them to Manipur under the watch of India’s armed forces? What is the Indian state waiting for?
Nobody from both sides speaks for peace and ceasefire. They are all intent on killing each other on sight. The Government of India knows that the guns and bombs wandering around the state among both communities are not going to kill the mainlanders, army, paramilitary forces, etc.
These guns and bombs freely wander around to kill Meitei and Kuki. They will not target the Indian state. Do you think these guns and bombs would still be around if the killing were between the mainlanders and us, the Manipuri? Impossible. Killing each other does not affect the Indian state. Violence has reached its climax.
As long as there are weapons among the people, there will be war. Both communities need to drop their weapons first. To do that, the Government of India and the Government of Manipur should initiate it by deploying trust forces in Manipur. They should give a strict order to them. First, stop the violence. People need to return to normalcy. Then, what should be done has to be done without violence and legally, as well.
But we all know that the Indian state can stop the violence. Also, we know that they don’t stop it. We don’t need to keep begging and begging and begging for another 12 months by sacrificing our blood. Begging continues, and the bloodshed, too. We have given our hope and trust to the Indian state in the past 12 months, hoping to intervene in the violence. But there has been no change so far.
It’s time to move on. It should be us who is responsible for stopping the bloodshed. It’s only us who are dying and suffering. One year of bloodshed happening in the democratic republic of India is not possible to stop. What a country! Some sections of people from both sides must wish to stop the fighting. Maybe their voices are too little or too afraid to speak out.
The two communities ought to communicate with each other. There must be a method to mend the wounds if there is a communication space between the two groups. We cannot reach a consensus if we are unable to communicate.
Sometimes, forgetting and forgiving are necessary for it to end. We have differences of opinions, which are to be understood together and solved through truth and legal process. What is true should remain true; what is wrong has to be corrected.
There is a massive gap between the two communities at the community level, whereas there is still some bondage at the individual level. The name of Kuki and Meitei drives conflict. It is possible to restore harmony between the two communities if individuals with similar values are prepared to move forward and initiate a peace process, provided that love and friendship exist on an individual level.
Kuki has a hatred for Meitei, and Meitei has the same hatred towards Kuki at the community level. However, there are still hidden friendships between the two communities at the individual level. Those connections from the personal level could go up to the community level. Soldiers with anger, tension and resentment in the battle won’t be able to see the situation as civilians see it. Soldiers cannot make a peaceful decision from the battlefield.
Civil organisations from both communities should come forward to bring peace to the state. These bodies should first convince their people, leaders, soldiers/ village volunteers, etc. A ceasefire between two communities should be the first step to bring peace. Both the CSOs from the two communities should try to gain the trust and support of the masses. When the representatives of both the communities have sufficient power and support from the public. They could start a peace process.
Media and social media should be cautious. It could break the peace process. Hatred should not be spread around. People need to move forward and need to forget the past to come to normalcy. Once the community came together for the peace process. Let somebody responsible authority make the committee to find a truth and the solution. As long as fighting continues, how could you bring peace? Soldiers do feel the pain and resentment. Many people lost their children, sons, and families during the conflict. Who would not want to take revenge for it? People would eventually want to take revenge. Those victims of the conflict would have the resentments and pains last longer. If the number of victims increases, war is more likely to continue.
As long as Kuki speaks about Kuki, Meitei speaks about Meitei, who on earth will speak about peace? All the intellectuals and scholars should come out too. There are two central universities and one state university in the state. They could have also started research and found the solutions. Hatred and anger continue the violence. No one speaks about peace. Both the community needs a few steps back to start a peace process. Let’s not let the audience enjoy watching fighting and killing in Manipur.
The author is the Former President Manipur Students’ Association Delhi. Views expressed are personal.