Manipur violence: Willingness to reconcile is the only way forward

Manipur has been a playground for competitive politics of its different ethnic groups for decades. The present tension between Meeteis and Kukis, which erupted on May 3, is a grave reminder of this. There are precedents of such conflicts and tensions since the 90s involving various tribal and non-tribal groups. Such a politics of identity and politics around identity foresees a tumultuous future with no groups gaining anything. From history, we learn, but the people of the state seem unwilling to do so. Manipur has experienced several identity-based conflicts which could have served as opportunities for the people to learn to co-exist; however, that has only remained a hope. The future seems bleak if the state’s residents fail to learn from the present Meetei-Kuki conflict again.

One can trace the violence to the tribal solidarity organised by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3 in the hill districts of Manipur against the demand for inclusion of the Meetei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list and the Manipur High Court’s directive to the state government to recommend the same to the Union Government. 

It would bode well to note here that ATSUM is an umbrella group of tribal students from the Kuki and Naga communities. This was a ‘peaceful’ march, and, ironically, it was at the end of this march that the unfortunate violence erupted.