A Meitei woman was gangraped in the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district on May 3, the day large-scale violence broke out in the state following protests called by Kuki-Zo ‘tribal’ bodies and their Churches, ostensibly against a Manipur HC order of April 19.
The survivor filed a Zero FIR at the Bishnupur police station on Wednesday, alleging that she was raped by five-six Kuki men in Churachandpur. A zero FIR is registered when the complainant is unable to file a complaint at the police station where the crime happened. In such instances, the case, after being registered, is transferred to the concerned police station.
As per the FIR filed by the woman, at around 4.30 pm on May 3, a group of Kuki men waylaid her and sexually assaulted her. She said that more men joined in on the assault.
The woman said in her complaint: “Five-six people got hold of me and started verbally abusing and assaulting me. Despite my resistance, I was forcefully pinned down. After this, they started sexually assaulting me… They inserted their fingers into my private part in a violent manner. There was no help coming from anybody despite my cries for help. Thereafter, some more men joined them. At that time, I lost consciousness. Later, when I regained my senses, I found myself in a house surrounded by some Meitei people.”
The survivor, who is now living in a relief camp said that she was subjected to this assault as her family and neighbours were trying to flee from their homes after a mob attacked and burnt down their houses at Churachandpur, one of the worst hit districts in Manipur amid the ongoing violence.
“I carried my niece on my back and also held my two sons and started running from the spot along with my sister-in-law. She was also carrying a baby on her back and running ahead of me.
“Then I stumbled and fell down on the road and was unable to get up after running about half a kilometre from my home. My sister-in-law came back running towards me and picked up my niece from my back and ran along with my two sons,” the complaint said.
The victim also said that she did not disclose the incident earlier to save herself and her family’s honour and dignity, and to safeguard themselves from social ostracism.
“Now, I have decided to come forward and file this complaint since I started realising the trauma and suffering that I went through because of the heinous crimes committed against me without any fault of mine. Adequate punishment should be given to the culprits for sexually and physically assaulting me in the most horrific manner.
“So, I am disclosing my ordeal and all the facts since I feel morally obliged to report this ghastly crime,” the woman stated.
A police official said that the woman was sent for medical examination at the Department of Forensic Science and Toxicology, RIMS, after which a zero FIR under section 376D (gang rape), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), and 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy) was filed at the Bishnupur police station.
Last month, news of a horrific video of two Kuki women being paraded naked on a road by a group of men in Manipur on May 4 was shared widely by mainstream media, drawing national and international condemnation, calls for action and suo motu cognizance from the highest court of the land. So far, nine accused persons seen in the video have been arrested. One hopes that this horrific gangrape of a Meitei woman gets equal attention of our courts and media.
The large-scale ethnic violence between the Christian Kuki-Zo tribals and the largely-Hindu Meitei community (there are also some Christian and Muslim Meiteis who have suffered in the current violence) has rocked Manipur for three months, claimed at least 152 lives, left over 50K injured and displaced over 70K.
Was HC order just a pretext for all-out civil war to achieve separate statehood?
The mainstream media narrative is that the Manipur conflict was instigated by the Manipur HC order of April 19. But a careful examination of the happenings in the state reveal this is not quite the case. First, let’s understand the HC order in question.
That order by a single-judge Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice M.V. Muralidaran, directed the Manipur State government to send its recommendation within 4 weeks to the Union government on the Meitei community’s request for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list – a matter that had been dragging for 10 years. The order did not suggest that the Meiteis be included in the ST list, but only asked the state govt. to expeditiously submit its recommendation, whatever that may be.
Observers believe that this non-descript HC order was just a pretext, and that tension was bubbling under the surface for months, at least since February 20 when forest officials supported by a large number of police personnel evicted the Kuki settlers in K Sonjang village area in Henglep sub-division of southern Manipur’s Churachandpur district for illegal encroachment on protected forest land. Poppy cultivation for drug trade and illegal timber trade is rampant in these parts.
On March 10, protest rallies in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal districts against some hilly parts of the state being declared as protected areas, turned violent. Several people, including some policemen, were injured. Security forces had to use force to combat the mob in the Kangpokpi district.
The Manipur govt. found that the violent protests were influenced by the Kuki terrorist groups Kuki National Army (KNA) and Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), both of which are part of 25 Kuki insurgent groups that signed a tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Government of India and Manipur in 2008 (there are still 7 Kuki terror groups that did not sign this SoO). The SoO was supposed to have tempered the Kuki demand for creation of a separate Kuki state.
Further, the Manipur govt stated that the ZRA president is a Myanmarese while the KNA is led by one Hoakip who is from Nagaland. As a result, the Manipur govt. decided to suspend the SoO agreement with KNA and ZRA. It also reaffirmed that there will be no compromise on steps taken to protect the state’s forest resources and for eradicating poppy cultivation.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) refuted that militant groups were involved in the March 10 protests in the hill districts, and accused the Manipur govt. of ‘ignoring the voice of the hill people thereby misinforming the central government’.
On April 27, an unruly Kuki mob partially torched the newly set-up open gym at PT Sports complex at New Lamka town in Churachandpur which CM Biren Singh was slated to inaugurate the next day.
So the large-scale violence that broke out on May 3 afternoon after yet another round of protests were announced by All-Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) and ITLF, had a clear build up. That day, Kuki radicals attacked Meitei population clusters in Churachandpur, Moreh (a Kuki-dominated town in Chandel district, right on the Indo-Myanmar border) and Kangpokpi, and Meitei retaliation followed soon after, sending the state into a spiral of violence that has yet to end.
The Kuki-Chin demand appears to have again gone back to separate statehood, with their slogan being ‘separate administration, only solution’.
The ignored Mizoram/Myanmar angle
Another largely ignored aspect of this whole conflict is the role of the Mizoram government, which has been stoking the fires raging in Manipur. Incidentally, Christian radicals in Mizoram had ethnically cleansed the Hindu Bru (Reang) tribe in 1998, forcing them to seek refuge in Tripura.
The Chin-Kuki-Zo ‘tribals’ and the Mizos in Mizoram belong to the Zo community and share the same culture and ancestry, and they are almost all Christians. The Kuki-Chin community in Myanmar and Bangladesh also belongs to the Zo community, which consists of different tribes, sometimes known as Zofate or descendants of Zo.
Recently, Mizoram Deputy Chief Minister Tawnluia had said that the formation of his party MNF (formerly it was a banned terror group) was mainly aimed to establish a homeland for all the Zohnahthlak (Zo ethnic tribes) across the region.
“The MNF was established with the core values of keeping Mizo nationalism, preserving the rich culture, traditions and beliefs of the Mizos and advocating for an integrated and single administrative unit for the dispersed Zo ethnic tribes residing in the northeastern states of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh,” said Tawnluia, who is also MNF’s senior vice-president.
So it was no surprise when MNF’s erstwhile armed wing PAMRA threatened Meiteis to leave Mizoram for ‘their own safety’, forcing 700 Meitei to leave Mizoram in a panic.
The ongoing civil war in Myanmar between various rebel groups and the Myanmar Army has also created instability along the Indo-Myanmar border, and around 40000 Chin Christian refugees have sought shelter in Mizoram. Kuki-Chin insurgent groups like Chin National Army (CNA) in Myanmar’s Chin state (which borders both Mizoram & Manipur) are fighting the Myanmar Army. In January this year, Myanmar had to launch airstrikes on Chin National Front Headquarters after facing fierce resistance from CNA forces. Many illegal settlers from Myanmar have also found their way to Manipur’s hill areas, and this is the narco-terror lobby that CM Biren Singh has cracked down on.
The way Kuki groups have been trying to internationalize the issue, the false rhetoric of ‘Christian persecution’, ‘holocaust’ and ‘ethnic cleansing by Hindu majority’ that has been emanating from Europe and Christian Churches ranging from Kerala to Goa, the way the US Ambassador Garcetti has tried to meddle, all this clearly indicate what the end game is here.
Some analysts believe that the ongoing violence in Manipur is just the tip of the iceberg, while the hidden agenda is the cherished dream of a separate homeland i.e. Zalengam (land of freedom).
Nagas add another ingredient to the volatile politics of the state. Also classified as STs and almost entirely Christian just like the Kukis, Nagas form around 15% of the population. Naga terror groups like NSCN, led by Thuigaleng Muivah who hails from the Ukhrul district of Manipur, have demanded ‘Greater Nagaland’ with the slogan “Nagaland For Christ”.
This demand is vehemently opposed by both Kukis and Meiteis, and bloody Naga-Kuki clashes took place in 1993-1994. Although Nagas have mostly stayed out of the current round of violence between the Kuki-Chin and Meitei, there were reports of Naga involvement in the ‘tribal solidarity marches’ organized by ATSUM in the tribal-dominated hill districts of Manipur.
But in all the noise, the suffering of the Manipuri people, including the women and children that are missing, has been forgotten.
(With IANS inputs)
