Our composite culture, Constitution, and the democratic ethos are also under threat. Never had India witnessed such barbarity. And such unbridled violence against women, as even their physicality is under attack; symbolize the macabre conflict as a message. The absence of any motivation to take action is also part of it. Despite the FIR registered against the accused two months back, only now the authorities are waking up to it. The violence continues, relentlessly.

As the unrest between the Meitei and Kuki communities continues unabated in north-east India, authorities remain quiet. Silence may lead to action and both sides warn of civil war. With a population of three million, Manipur, a state in north-east India, has been witness to continued violence between the majority Meitei community and the minority Kukitribe. In the recent flare up, since May 3, more than 142 people have been killed. More than thousand have been reported injured.

More than seventy thousand have lost their home and livelihood. There have been set up 272 relief camps and people in their own country have turned refugee looking for shelter, security, food and medicine. Several thousands have taken shelter in neighboring states. Some have come to Delhi also.The unrest started with the solidarity rally by various tribal groups underlining the issues of social status and tribal rights. It provoked distrust in communities especially between Meities and Kukies. Two months are gone but turmoil continues and peace remains elusive.

The BJP governments in the state and Centre have failed the people in the state. The ethnic violence has erupted only after people had to undergo absence of rights. The long indifference towards their problems and failure to address the complex issue of land, identity of social and cultural issues among different communities, misuse of forest lands, unemployment, equal access to education to all ethnic groups, poppy cultivations, containment of different underground groups in valley and hill areas, unchecked infiltration from Myanmar among many other issues. The continued campaign of RSS launched to divide the people on religious lines, and to top it all with the role of the Assam chief minister towards the conflict must be condemned.

The utter failure of the BJP government in Manipur is the leading factor in this entire tragic situation. Steps must be taken to get the resignation of the chief minister, disarming of all terrorist groups and individuals, possessing arms illegally to be arrested. Poppy cultivation in the reserve forest areas also must be stopped. The decision to give land to the Adani group for mining and other commercial activities that could change the character of land and harm the ecological balance irreversibly, must be stopped. People must get rehabilitated, compensated.They must get livelihood in a time bound period. All highways must be opened to provide the essentials to people.The cases against the fact finding team of NFIW leaders have also been filed on fabricated grounds and hence must be withdrawn without delay. CPI also reiterates its position towards the territorial integrity of Manipur and unity of their people.

India’s north-eastern states have a history of ethnic rivalries dating back to before the country became independent in 1947. In Manipur, violence has erupted between the Meitei and the Kuki communities several times before.The government was accused of pursuing policies that discriminated against Kukis, including forced evictions that threatened the security of their land.

Tensions have recently flared between the two communities again, driven in part by the Meitei-controlled state government.The violence was sparked by a court ruling in March that granted the majority Meiteis the right to buy land in the hills, where the Kukis predominately live, further fuelling fears that their lands, jobs and opportunities would be taken away.

This prompted protests, mostly by Kuki student groups, which were met with violence. By early May, it had escalated into all-out violence between Kuki and Meitei groups. The state was swiftly bifurcated along ethnic lines, with the Meite is in the valley and the Kukis in the hills, each defending their territory on their own. To enter the territory of the opposing tribe was soon considered to be a death sentence.

Though the state and central government, both ruled by the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), have claimed that the situation has begun to calm down, intermittent clashes have continued to erupt and those fighting on both sides have warned that Manipur remains on the brink of civil war.

We all share the pain and suffering people in Manipur are undergoing. We abide by our Constitution, and would never allow our composite culture to die, On July 25, CPI observed Manipur Day! (IPA Service)