With houses demolished, flattened to the ground...Churachandpur Meiteis at the crossroad, seek justice
Source: The Sangai Express / Waari Singbul Network

Imphal, September 07 2023: 37-year-old Ronald Meisnam loses his cool on seeing two contrasting photos-one, his native home at Mandop Leikai, a Meitei locality at Churachandpur district headquarters where he was born and brought up mingling with the tribal environment so much so that he speaks Kuki-Zo languages smoothly, and the other that rankles him is a flattened plot of land after his house was completely demolished.

His depressed friend Amarjit Maibam (28), also from the Kuki dominated district, simply utters with a heavy heart "all Meitei houses at Khuga Tampak numbering nearly 1000, 'including ours,' were set ablaze, looted and destroyed by miscreants, and now 'our native village' wears the look of a war devastated zone."

Churachandpur Meiteis at the crossroad, seek justice

Ronal and Amarjit are among around 15,000 odd Meiteis whose houses in 11 different Meitei villages in Churachandpur were destroyed in the unprecedented ethnic violence which unfolded in Manipur on May 3 .

They are currently taking refuge at different relief camps in the valley districts.

What adds more fuels to their ire is the demolition of numerous houses belonging to the Meiteis after they left their Churachandpur homesteads by miscreants allegedly in front of the police.

"After we left Churachandpur, numerous Meitei houses, including ours, have been flattened in a systematic way by using heavy machinery by miscreants as if they are the rightful owners of the Meitei plots," an emotional Ronald told the Waari Singbul.

The police, who are well aware of these unlawful acts, have not taken any action against the culprits," he lamented.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who had been informed about these illegal activities, has assured action against the perpetrators.

Sadly, there has been no report of arrest of the culprits to date, compounding the angst of the hapless owners, he added.

Saying that Kuki houses and other properties which were destroyed in the valley districts during the clash haven't been bulldozed or flattened and are heavily guarded by security forces round the clock, he asked if there are two separate laws �one in the valley and the other in the hills.

Meanwhile a highly reliable State official told Waari Singbul that Churachandpur SP has already taken up a suo moto case on the matters of levelling the Meitei localities in Churachandpur by miscreants.

The Official asserted that all those found guilty during investigation would be punished as per the law.

He further informed that internally displaced persons or other victims of the conflict who have lost important documents or records like pattas of landholdings, educational certificates and even financial records need not worry as these legal documents would be re-issued to them by the District Magistrates concerned where they are currently seeking refuge.

All they have to do is file complaints with the District Magistrates concerned, the top bureaucrat said.

Though the State sees no semblance of immediate restoration of normalcy, the two, like other displaced Meiteis, want to return to their native homes.

"Churachandpur is the only tribal district in the State where the largest number of Meiteis are living.

We don't want to set a new history when all Meiteis leave the district and scatter in the valley areas or elsewhere," Ronald said.

"My father, who was born at the same Mandop Leikai residence, was reluctant to leave home initially even in the peak of attack by Kuki miscreants on May 3," he added.

Recapitulating the socio-political changes and militants' dominance in Churachandpur, Ronald said soon after the Kuki-Paite clash broke out in 1997, the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) was formed to protect the Zo people.

Upon such formation, other Kuki militant groups in the district also enhanced ground control, and since then these outfits established their strongholds in their respective areas in Churachandpur, Ronald said.

The Meiteis also faced difficulties in getting their basic fundamental rights in Churachandpur because of various factors, Ronald continued.

Ronald went on to state that his father rejected the proposal from one of his rich neighbours to buy their land for the love of his birth place.

"Now everything is gone after the ethnic clash erupted," said Ronald, who got his BE (Electronics and Communications) degree from Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT) .

"We are at the crossroads now.

We strongly urge the Government to give exemplary punishment to those perpetrators who bulldozed and flattened our houses.

The Government should also take up necessary measures to resettle the displaced Meiteis," he demanded.