Two women being paraded in the streets of Manipur with not a single shred of fabric on their bodies, being groped, beaten and then gang raped later, shocked the entire world. None of them survived the atrocity. As to why this event transpired, the answer can only be traced in the reality that multi-ethnic Indians are facing today. With the unbridled implications of Hindutva ideology, xenophobia and “otherisation” is on the rise. In this “Us Vs Them” India, where Hindus perceive that their existence and purity of their state is threatened by other religious identities, ethnic violence and episodes of ethnic cleansing are the new normal. The North Eastern states of India already shared a tumultuous history with the capital and claims that they are treated as aliens and are discriminated against are now reinforced by recent events. The translation of structural violence into direct violence in India by the BJP-led government can be reflected in the cases of Citizenship Act (2019) and the crisis generated by it in Assam, and the most recent verbal attacks and indoctrination against Miya Muslims by BJP representative CM of Assam.
Manipur, a North Eastern state hosting 3.2 million inhabitants, has been a hotbed of ethnic violence since early May. Two ethnicities, Meitei and Kuki, the former practicing Hinduism while latter being Christian have experienced ethnic hostility in the past as well but never to this extent. The root of the rot can be traced to the Court ruling on 27th March that designated the title of “scheduled tribe’ to Meitei, allowing them to buy land on the hills (populated by indigenous Kuki), and abolishing quotas in educational institutions and economic spheres that were protecting the Kuki. This, in conjunction with the BJP-led state government and contemporary socio-political environment made a perfect recipe for disaster.
The translation of structural violence into direct violence in India by the BJP-led government can be reflected in the case of Citizenship Act.
As Kuki’s experienced existential threat, a group of Kuki students expressed their resentment to the court ruling via protest which was brutally crushed by the state police resulting in deaths and several heavily injured students. Situation further deteriorated because of a coordinated campaign of disinformation claiming that Meitei women are being raped by Kuki men, which made rounds on WhatsApp. This initiated a wave of “revenge rapes” against Kuki women. The general secretary of National Federation of Indian Women, Annie Raja, reported multiple cases of sexual violence after visiting relief camps where displaced Kuki population was placed. Besides using rape as a weapon, Meitei have torched Kuki villages to the ground and have damaged Kuki shops, businesses and over 250 Churches. The Kuki fleeing from Imphal, the state’s capital, to hills were often hounded by large Meitei mobs, which in some cases were led and protected by state police. The violence has produced over 140 deaths and around 60,000 displaced Kuki individuals. To stop the flow of information from Manipur, the government of India has imposed an internet ban, which was later partially lifted but data was heavily censored and certain mechanisms were installed that hindered the change of IP addresses and use of VPN. This move has gagged the plight of Kuki people and is no less than a violation of human rights.
So far, the response of the government has been damaging as the state police have been operating at the behest of the reigning political party. Modi has been silent on this issue with the exception where he condemned the incident of the two women being paraded in the streets naked, without addressing the broader issue at all. This has provided an opportunity for the opposition parties that have decided to introduce a no-confidence motion against Modi, this is futile since the lower house is heavily dominated by BJP. Kuki people have demanded a separate state because they believe that “we have arrived at the point of no return”, as one Kuki explained. In the current environment and against the backdrop of events that have transpired, Kuki believe that they can never cohabit with Meitei in the future. While that is the will and wish of Kuki people, Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs, has expressed that ‘territorial integrity of Manipur cannot be violated’. With that being the situation, there is little hope that BJP government would seriously solve the Manipur ethnic violence conundrum, since it exhibits least intention to do so.
The writer is currently associated with Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).