State and war on civilians : Responsibilities and failures
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 31, 2024 -

It certainly evokes a mixed feeling.

Of course, we are referring to the Chief Minister’s appeal to the people not to create troubles in the valley districts and entrust the responsibility of protecting the State’s unity and integrity to the government.

The first part of the appeal is okay.

It is the second part which is problematic and hard to digest.

The failure of the state vis-a-vis the current violent crisis is stark and unmistakable.

The state failed miserably not once, not twice but repeatedly.

The failure of the state started even before the pre-planned and premeditated aggression erupted and it is still unable to fully discharge its responsibilities and duties.

A few days after the offensive was launched and Meiteis were attacked from all directions, Chief Minister N Biren admitted that there were security lapses as well as intelligence failure.

The failure of the state started when it failed to apprehend the sinister intention and objective of the so-called Tribal Solidarity Rally, particularly the one planned and taken out at Churachandpur on May 3, 2023.

This failure of the state proved to be extremely costly to thousands of innocent people as well as to the idea of Manipur as a whole.

It is also equally perplexing and shocking that the state (state here refers to both Imphal and New Delhi) and its armed forces did not make any attempt to stop the infamous Churachandpur rally, participated by armed hoodlums and automatic rifles-wielding combatants, from making its way to Torbung Bangla.

Once they reached Torbung Bangla, it was total mayhem. Hundreds of houses were vandalised and burnt down within minutes.

Again, neither the state nor its armed forces made any attempt to stop the mayhem. Such is the abject failure of the state.

Even after buffer zones were created to contain the violence, Kuki militants managed to sneak into Kwakta after crossing a buffer zone manned by security forces and slew three sleeping men on August 5, 2023.

The terror attack at Kwakta is not any isolated case of the state’s failure to protect its citizens.

There are several instances of Kuki militants sneaking into Meitei villages and murdering innocent villagers.

To recall a few incidents, four villagers who went to collect firewood were murdered by Kuki militants on January 10, 2024 at Kumbi Haotak.

This was followed by the gruesome murder of four other innocent villagers at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou on January 18.

The list of the state failures is simply too long.

It is the repeated failures of the state which compelled untrained villagers to shoulder the responsibility of defending their villages.

The villagers are no combatants but they have no other option.

All civilian youth who have taken up arms are not combatants nor are they trained in using firearms.

But the sustained offensive launched by Kuki militants and their supporters, and the state’s miserable failure to respond appropriately compelled the youth to take up arms and shoulder the responsibility of defending the integrity of Manipur.

Had the state and its security agencies protected the unarmed civilians from the heavily armed aggressors, no one might have thought of looting weapons from the state armoury because they would have no need for weapons.

If civilians arming themselves is a headache to the state, it is the state’s own making.

Civilians arming themselves is neither a good sign nor desirable but what is even more disappointing is the state’s failure to protect its citizens.

It is the state’s failure which enabled Kuki militants and their supporters to cleanse Meiteis from Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Moreh.

Coming to the appeal of the Chief Minister to entrust the responsibility of protecting the state’s unity and integrity to the government, many would like to question if the state is in a position to effectively defend its citizens from the aggressors, even if it is not ready to neutralise them completely.