Central forces under scanner
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: December 02, 2024 -

WITHOUT concrete proof it is unlikely that village chiefs of 'neutral' communities would accuse the powerful Indian army of aiding the Kuki community in the Manipur crisis.

A day after Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, with reference to the ethnic clashes between Meetei and Kuki communities since May last year, said that the force serves as a melting pot and pointed out that members of Kuki and Meetei communities from Manipur operate in the same unit with great harmony, a memorandum signed by chiefs and representatives of Laikot Kom, Laikot Phaizol, Laikot Kharam, Yaingangpokpi, Thamnapokpi, Sabungkhok Khunou, and Sanasabi villages, addressed to the union home minister, the defence minister, and the chief minister of Manipur, alleged involvement of Indian army personnel in aiding Kuki militants.

The memorandum claimed that the army has been complicit in the construction of illegal Kuki bunkers and has failed to address the escalating violence that threatens the safety of Kom, Kharam, and Meetei communities, while calling for immediate replacement of biased army personnel with impartial Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to help restore peace and harmony in the region.

The memorandum also referred to incidents that have escalated tensions in the area, including allegations of the army aiding militants in constructing bunkers and blocking essential services for Meetei villagers.

It also described the precarious situation faced by the Kom and Kharam communities, who reside at the foothills of Sangran Ching, despite maintaining neutrality as the bitter clash between the Kuki-Zo and the Meetei communities nears the second year.

Since despatch of additional central paramilitary forces such as the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and Indian army units by the Ministry of Home Affairs to prevent the unrest situation from getting out of hand, these forces along with Manipur police have been conducting search operations to recover the arms and ammunition looted from the police armouries and dismantling unauthorised bunkers, and have been fairly successful in reducing the scale of violence.

However, the memorandum highlighting threat faced by the neutral communities due to construction of bunkers by armed Kuki militants on the Sangran Ching (hill), a strategically important location within the Khamenlok-Gwaltabi Reserved Forest, among other locations, could be construed as the security forces deployed there lacking commitment in descaling the tension forget about restoring normalcy in the state.

Notably, the village chiefs' revelation in their joint memorandum that the army unit is yet to dismantle the bunkers despite giving assurances during a visit to Laikot village on November 26, deepens the suspicion that the central forces lack both professionalism and commitment.

The memorandum might be aimed at driving home the point that Kom and Kharam communities, whose settlements have Kuki villages as immediate neighbours, aren't taking side of any of the warring communities, but the accusation that Kuki bunkers are being built in the presence of army personnel, despite existence of army camps and by utilising heavy machinery at the disposal of the central forces would naturally erode trust of the people in the central forces, whose sole purpose of deployment in the state is to win over the people and safeguard their lives and properties.