Fight between Manipur police, Kuki armed men keep border town Moreh volatile

Manipur CM N Biren Singh suspects involvement of 'foreign elements' in the recent attacks on the security forces.

Guwahati: Police commandos and the armed Kuki men are engaged in sporadic gunfight in Moreh, a trade town sharing border with Myanmar in conflict-hit Manipur, severely affecting business and normal life for the past several weeks. 

At least 11 Manipur police commandos and a BSF jawan have been wounded in three separate gunfights at Moreh since December 30. The trade town, where people from across Myanmar also converge for business, has remained shut since December 30 when fresh violence started after a gunfight took place between suspected Kuki insurgents and police commandos injuring one cop.

Moreh, a Kuki-dominated town in Tengnoupal district, has remained tense since May when riots broke out between the majority Meitei and Kuki tribes. Meiteis, who come second population-wise, had fled Moreh after violence escalated in the border town. Kukis too, similarly fled the Imphal Valley, where Meities are in majority.

Moreh is considered as the country's gateway to Southeast Asian nations like Myanmar and Thailand. Nearly 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 others have been displaced in the violence since May last year. Most of the Meitei organisations have demanded action against the Kuki insurgent groups alleging their involvement in drug trafficking from across Myanmar and "anti-national" activities. Rejecting the allegations repeatedly, the Kuki groups have demanded that creation of a "separate administration" comprising the Kuki-dominated districts (including Tengnoupal) is the only way to end the conflict. 

Foreign elements

Manipur CM N Biren Singh suspects that "foreign elements" from across Myanmar are involved in the recent attacks on the security forces. But several Kuki groups have said that the "village volunteers" were "compelled to defend themselves" as Manipur police commandos attacked the Kuki villages in and around Moreh and harassed the "innocent villagers" in the name of maintaining law and order. They demand that Manipur police commandos should be withdrawn and law and order must be maintained only by the neutral central security forces. They claim that the commandos are mainly Meiteis.

"There can be no peace as long as they (commandos) are deployed in Moreh. If the Meitei forces are allowed to continue operating and harassing the Kuki-Zo tribals, the government will be held responsible for any security issue in the future," said a statement issued by Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), a forum of the Kuki-Zo organisations. ITLF said they made the same demand to Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to Manipur on May 31. The ITLF imposed a 24-hour "shutdown" in all Kuki-Zo dominated areas on Wednesday (January 3) in order to register protest against the alleged atrocities by the Manipur police commandos and "Meitei armed groups" like Aarmbai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun.An official in a central security force told DH that Kuki groups became angry when Manipur police commandos were rushed to Moreh in October in order to "create an atmosphere" for resettling the Meiteis, who had fled Moreh since May. More forces were rushed after Chingtham Anand Kumar, the officer-in-charge of Moreh police station, a Meitei, was killed in firing allegedly by Kuki insurgents on October 31 while he was overseeing work for construction of a helipad. 

Timeline

October 31, 2023: Chingtham Anand Kumar, officer-in-charge of Moreh police station killed by suspected Kuki militants.

October 31, 2023: A convoy of IGP attacked at Sinam village in Tengnoupal, three policemen injured.

December 29, 2023: A Manipur police personnel injured in firing by suspected Kuki insurgents.

December 30, 2023: Four Manipur police commandos injured in an attack at Moreh police station.

January 2, 2024: Four police commandos and two BSF jawan injured in firing during a combing operation in Moreh.