BBC News:
Ethnic violence has plunged Manipur, India’s scenic state bordering Myanmar, into turmoil. Persistent clashes between the Meiteis and Kukis for over two months have left both feeling besieged. The neighbouring villages of these communities appear to be particularly susceptible to attacks. In the second of a two-part series on Manipur, the BBC’s Soutik Biswas visited a scenic valley where Meitei villages have come under attack.
Under the cover of darkness in early May, the men emerged from the hills above.
They were shouting slogans that pierced the stillness of the night and firing gunshots that punctuated the balmy air. Some of them wielded swords, while others brandished bottles of petrol and diesel.
“Kill them, burn them!” echoed a war cry that reverberated in the air, and remained etched in Khunaijam Shanti’s memory.
She and fellow villagers had been dreading an attack as news – and rumours – of ethnic violence spread like wildfire through whispers and mobile phones. Around midnight they abandoned their homes, evading the fury of the mob.
On 3 May, ethnic violence sparked by a thorny affirmative action row erupted in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur. More than 130 people have died since, during clashes between the majority Meitei and the tribal Kuki minority groups. Some 60,000 have become refugees in their own land.
The Meitei – mostly practising Hindus – like Ms Shanti live in community villages in the sprawling valley, including the capital, Imphal. The Kukis, mostly Christians, reside in their chief-run villages in the rolling hills.
The ongoing violence has tragically led to a near-complete segregation of the two groups. Dolaithabi, where Ms Shanti lived, was among the four villages – Ekoi, Yangkhaman and Leitanpokpi were the three others – in the Imphal East district that was attacked by Kukis in a fierce night of burning and looting.
These Meitei-dominated villages – where nearly 3,000 people lived – were particularly vulnerable, nestled against the foothills in close proximity to Kuki settlements. Villages of the two groups are barely separated, with only 1,500 (1.5km) metres between them. Here – and in many other similar areas – security forces have set up buffer zones to restore peace. On both sides, civilians – calling themselves “village defence forces” – have also built bunkers, often manned by armed volunteers.
It is difficult to imagine a place so scenic and tranquil to be at the crosshairs of a violent conflict. A dammed river called Iril flows past sleepy villages of sloped corrugated tin homes. Hand-tended rice farms cover the floodplains, fringed by slopes that rise to the cloud-clapped emerald green hills of oak and pine.
“This is a valley surrounded by hills. It is a vulnerable area. They [the Kukis] have the vantage point. They can take pot shots from the hills. Anything can happen anytime,” said Lenin Lamabam, a senior officer of Manipur’s military police. He, along with 80 of his men and hundreds of border forces, is patrolling the area.
