Manipur: new violent clashes in Kangpokpi district
A protest staged by ethnic Kuki-Zo against police reinforcements sent by New Delhi for taking sides and fomenting tensions in clashes with the Meitei was harshly repressed. Christian women were reportedly attacked with sticks and tear gas. The Archdiocese of Imphal goes against the current by opening the Jubilee of Hope, including among tribal groups.
Imphal (AsiaNews) – Tensions are running high again in the Indian state of Manipur after security forces harshly cracked down against a protest by thousands of ethnic Kuki-Zo, including many women, in front of the Kangpokpi district headquarters.
The demonstration followed an ongoing economic blockade and a 24-hour shutdown of the National Highway 2, which is used to bring supplies to the state capital of Imphal; the protest was sparked by the presence of Central Armed Police Forces reinforcements in Kuki-Zo areas.
For the Committee on Tribal Unity, which represents local groups, the move is politically motivated to marginalise tribal communities and destabilise the region at the centre of tensions with Hindu majority Meitei groups, who live in the plains and are increasingly pushing into the hills areas inhabited by largely Christian Kuki-Zo.
Protesters in Kangpokpi slammed the excessive use of force by security forces in Kuki-Zo areas, claiming that more than 50 women were injured with rubber bullets and tear gas during Christmas celebrations.
Instead, they call for neutral forces to monitor the buffer zones on the border between Kuki-Zo and Meitei areas, stressing that the current deployment of police forces only increases tensions.
The situation became chaotic late in the evening, when – faced with the failure by the authorities to withdraw outside forces as promised – protesters tried to enter the office of the police superintendent.
Security forces responded with rubber bullets and tear gas, triggering clashes that left at least 15 injured, some of whom were hospitalised. The police superintendent and several officers also suffered injuries due to stones thrown by the enraged protesters.
Since the protest failed to “elicit a positive response from the government”, the Committee on Tribal Unity expressed its intention to continue blockading Kangpokpi district, calling for the immediate withdrawal of the police forces sent by New Delhi from Saibol, whose presence is "unnecessary and provocative".
Ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki-Zo in Manipur State broke out in May 2023, causing at least 250 deaths and displacing thousands of people.
Amid this difficult situation, the Archdiocese of Imphal opened the Jubilee on Sunday, 29 December, trying to bring a bit of hope.
One celebration was held in Imphal cathedral, led by Archbishop Linus Neli, while another took place at the Don Bosco Higher Secondary School in Lamka, in one of the areas inhabited by the Kuki-Zo, presided by Archbishop Emeritus Dominic Lumon.
“Let us accept the gift of divine peace that the world cannot give,” reads Archbishop Neli’s Christmas message, “and let us be bearers of this peace, hope and love.”
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