Where is the 'genocide' ? The numbers don't add up!

NS Hemam *

Ever since the violence broke out in Manipur, we all have been greatly disturbed by the share ferocity of violence, loss of innocent lives, loss of homes and properties of thousands of families and the deep division between the communities.

What is more painful is, since the release of very disturbing video of two women being paraded naked by a mob, the non-stop coverage of Manipur by national/international media and opening up of the painful realities of a serious ethnic conflict.

The current crisis in Manipur is even termed by some radicals as 'ethnic cleansing' of Tribal Christian minority by majority Hindu community in collusion with ruling BJP government or 'Tribal genocide' by majority Meitei Hindus.

All these non-stop media bombardment of such narratives and non-availability of any information (data) from the state government created self-doubts in the minds and hearts of many. Thank you 'The Wire' for bringing out some data/figures which the state government hasn't been able to provide in the last 90 days.

As per the report published by 'the Wire,' 9th Aug (2023), the total number of deaths as per the state govt. info is 142, while their own investigation gives 152 deaths. The district-wise break-up figure provided by 'the Wire' is as follows:

Sl No	District	Total No of Deaths	Meiteis	Kukis	Unidentified	Remarks
1.	Imphal East	30	14	7	9	Names Available
2.	Imphal West	21	4	17	7	Names Available
3.	Bishnupur1	20	13	6	2	Names Available
4.	Thoubal	4	1	3	-	Names Available
5.	Kakching2	20	12	-	4	Names Available
6.	Churachandpur3	39	4	35	-	NOT Provided
7.	Kangpokpi	11	6	5	-	Names Available
-	Total	145	54	73	22	-

¹ there is a mismatch in total figure

² only 4 is under Un-identified category; it's doesn't match with total

³ Names of Churachandpur is not provided

The available figures given in 'the Wire' article raises some serious questions 1) the individual figures provided do not tally with total figure; 2) there is a mixing-up of government number and 'Wire' article number without proper explanation; and 3) the available 'Figures' doesn't support the 'Ethnic Cleansing' or 'Genocide' narrative.

1. Miss-Match figure

The community wise figure of Bishnupur doesn't tally with the total – the total should have been 21. Similarly, the total number of Kakching doesn't tally with community-wise number. The total number of deaths in Manipur, as per figures of Wire, is 145. But if one counts on community-wise numbers and adds unidentified number, then the total goes up-to 149. The government data says 142, and the 'Wire' data says 152 but the figures, based on 'Wire's data gives 145 and 149. Who is manipulating the data to suit one's narrative?

2. Mixing-up of Government data and 'Wire' data or plain data manipulation?

It appears that there is a manipulation of data – none of the quoted total figures tally with the given individual numbers. Is the extra 10 death bodies that 'Wire' claims added to the Churachandpur figure? In a strange co-incidence, NO DETAIL information is provided for Churachandpur though the whole data seemed to have been collected through Chrachandpur based CSOs. Is there any specific reason for not providing details of Churachandpur victims?

It's important to note Churachandpur is the nerve center of Kuki groups, completely dominated by the Kukis. Then, where do the 35 death bodies come from and who are they? Since all the Meiteis from Churachandpur had been driven out on 3rd May, there was no question of Kukis being killed by Meiteis in Churachandpur.

Why their names have not been disclosed? Are these bodies brought from other districts? NO. The government report says that death bodies of Kuki tribes deposited in Imphal morgues are still there in Imphal.

Something is not adding up to the whole story – Churachandpur is a big black hole in the entire story. Why there is so much secrecy around death bodies in Churachandpur? A thorough investigation is needed to unearth the truth.

3. Where is the question of 'Genocide' or 'Ethnic Cleanising' of Christian tribals?

The available Government figure or the figures of 'Wire' suggests that both sides have equally suffered in the conflict – then, where does the question of genocide or ethnic cleansing come from? If one removes the 'controversial' Churachandpur figure, then it would be the Meiteis who had lost more number of people than the Kukis. We have not yet counted the missing Meiteis.

The advocate of ITLF, Colin Gonsalves, says in the Supreme Court that 118 tribal bodies are lying there in Imphal Morgues and the KSO's list goes upto 136 (Wire). The Coffin Rally in Churachandpur had presented more than 100 coffins. If the numbers and their identities are there, why not come out in the open and convince people? Why people are so cagey about the names and addresses of those victims, if there were?

Looking at the number of victims in both sides, where does the question of 'genocide' or 'ethnic cleansing' arise? It is apparent that some vested interest groups are desperate to create a narrative of majority Hindu killing minority tribal Christians. They may have their own agenda; but when dusts settle down, it will be you and me who will have to come back to the same neighborhood.

It's time to shut-up these hate mongers and their cronies, and close their fake narratives forever!

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* NS Hemam wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer can be contacted at hemamns(AT)gmail(DOT)com
This article was webcasted on 11 August 2023.

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