Valley under intense scrutiny, free hand in Churachandpur
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 12, 2023 -

Miscreants looting cash and gold ornaments worth over Rs 3 crore from the Churachandpur town branch of Axis Bank underscores that the hill district, from where the ethnic violence started, hundreds of Meetei families were forced out of their ancestral homes, scores of forest offices were set ablaze and intermittent firing on the peripheral Meetei villages continues, is not safe for business establishments and financiaMnstitutions.

For those scheming to distort and rewrite history, the fact remains that Churachandpur district was named after king Churachand and Meetei families, thousands of them currently taking shelter in relief camps and putting up at relatives’ places, had been residing at different localities ages before framing of a law that prohibits the non-scheduled tribe communities from owing land and permanently settling in and around the township, which is also the largest town after capital city Imphal.

Similarly, Meeteis had been in Moreh border town in present day Tengnoupal district several decades ahead of the Chin-Kuki tribes started to flock into these areas.

With no Meetei civilian present in these two districts after the ethnic clashes forced them to flee for their lives, there had been instances of Kuki rioters looting the abandoned houses and even chiselling out the bricks from remnants of the few standing Meetei concrete houses in Churachandpur town while the metal scraps were transported for sale to Assam’s Silchar town via Mizoram state.

Despite many such broad daylight lootings, there has been no official report of any arrest made the law enforcement agencies till date while Kuki CSOs continue to accuse state police of aiding the rioters in Imphal.

Interestingly, CCTV footage of rioters looting a gun shop within sight of the Churachandpur police station on the same evening the violence broke out was posted by Kuki social media users as an incident happening in Imphal.

Accepted that handful of rioters were killed or injured in crackdown by security forces on the first two nights of the violence in Churachandpur town, the mob went on the rampage and completely ravaged the Meetei settlements with the apparent intention to erase footprints of the Meetei community.

While the latest revelation of looting of the Axis Bank branch indicates absolute lawlessness in Churachandpur district state and central forces have been intensifying search and bunker dismantling exercises in the valley apart from top security authorities, so-called security commentators mainly made up of retired military officers, questioning rationale and motive whenever Meetei womenfolk launch street protests to decry alleged partisan attitude and conduct of central forces.

Apart from the bank loot case validating breakdown of the law enforcement machinery and inefficiency of the district administration, report about some Myanmarese nationals facilitated treatment for bomb and bullet wounds at the district hospital implies failure to prevent unauthorised influx from across the border.

Though it is possible that the foreigners suffered injuries in clashes with the military junta and perceived it safe to be in the presence of their kindred tribes in Churachandpur district, the question is whether the para-military forces manning the Indo-Myanmar border were not aware about the intrusion or why the same was not reported to the government of Manipur.