Unregulated vigilante armies...- Part 2
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, August 12 2024:

continued from previous edition .

In an interview with the Guardian, BJP chief minister of Manipur, Nongthombam Biren Singh, confirmed that the presence of organised militant groups was a major concern for the state's security situation, but denied that any new militants had crossed back over the border since the violence began.

Singh, who recently met with Modi for the first time in over a year to discuss the situation in Manipur, admitted he was "struggling" with the restoration of peace amid an ongoing stalemate and endless failed negotiations.

Singh and his BJP government are seen to be aligned with the dominant Meitei community and have been accused by human rights groups of protecting and giving a free hand to several Meitei militant groups associated with atrocities committed against the Kuki-Zo community.

Singh also defended allowing armed civilian militias to flourish and become the de facto law and order authority of the state, stating they had become a Necessity is "we do not have adequate numbers of police and paramilitary personnel who can help prevent and protect from the attacks of the militants" .

For the tens of thousands living in displacement camps, from both the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo communities, the continued stalemate and enduring violence has left them in a state of purgatory and the feeling of being abandoned by the Modi government was rife.

Frustrations began to boil over this month when almost a hundred displaced people living in Akampat relief camp held a protest at their conditions, with police firing tear gas at them in response.

Ngaithenhoi Haokip, 27, from the Kuki-Zo community, said her family was barely able to survive in the camps after their village was scorched by a Meitei mob in May last year, leaving them with nothing.

"There is no way to earn any money," she said.

"There is no food for my children, and they often get sick but I can't afford to take them to a doctor".

For 26-year-old Meitei Loi-tongban Nainao, also displaced to a camp after his home was burned down, said the situation was so bleak he recently attempted to take his own life.

"This life is meaningless and frustrating," he said.

"I do not know when we can return to our village.

It is like living in jail" .

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