Proposed site of shelter home at Holenfai village, Tengnoupal, Manipur on March 26, 2023
Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:
Five weeks before the Manipur ethnic conflict broke out in May 2023, a cabinet subcommittee comprising ministers from the three major communities visited three villages to assess the situation on “identification of immigrants/refugees from Myanmar”, from the report submitted by the subcommittee. It shows.
Tribal Affairs and Hills Minister Letpao Haokip, who is from the Kuki tribe, led the subcommittee, with Water Resources Minister Awangbo Newmai, a Naga, and Law Minister Basant Kumar Singh, a Meitei, as the two other members.
He visited three villages between March 26, 2023, and April 1, 2023, and met Myanmar citizens – including a member of parliament from the neighboring country – who were living in community halls under the supervision of village chiefs.
Kuki tribes in Manipur still follow the archaic hereditary chieftaincy system – responsible for power struggles between siblings and rapid growth of villages – which has also been abolished in neighboring Mizoram where homogeneous tribes live.
A community hall in Holenfai village, Tengnoupal, Manipur on March 26, 2023
The subcommittee never made any visit after clashes broke out on May 3, 2023, between the Meitei community and more than a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as the Kukis, who are influential in some hilly areas of Manipur.
Subcommittee chairman demanded separate administration
Letpao Haokip later joined the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs who demanded a separate administration from Manipur. Kuki groups had raised the same demand in 2015, when nine people from their community were killed in police firing during a protest against three controversial bills introduced by the state government (then Congress party led by former chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh). It was done.
Meitei leaders say the claim by 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs and frontal groups that they had raised the demand for a separate administration only after the May 3 violence broke out was a blatant lie.
Manipur Cabinet Subcommittee members and other teams at Holenfai village, Tengnoupal, Manipur on March 26, 2023
By the time the subcommittee began its survey in late March 2023, tension was already rife in Kuki-dominated areas in southern Manipur, as the government had launched an eviction drive in K Songzang village of Churachandpur just a month earlier. The subcommittee’s visit to the three villages also coincided with sporadic protests by Kuki groups against what they called illegal eviction from the forests.
One NDTV report Citing preliminary documents filed by the subcommittee on June 21, 2023, it said more than 2,000 Myanmar nationals have settled inside Manipur and refused to move to designated shelters. They fled the war between the ruling junta and ethnic rebel groups claiming to be fighting for democracy.
Final copies of the subcommittee report with visuals of the trip, now accessed by NDTV, show that the three leaders repeatedly appealed to village heads to allow Myanmar nationals to stay in designated shelter camps once the structures were ready. Persuade.
Cabinet subcommittee at Gamphazol village in Chandel district, March 29, 2023
The subcommittee visited Holenfai village in Tengnoupal district on March 26, Gamphazol village in Chandel district on March 29 and Singhat in Churachandpur district on April 1, 2023.
“Mr. Letpao Haokip… highlighted the issue of illegal entry of Myanmar nationals into Indian territory, which has created apprehension among the general public as such immigrants are naturalized among the common native population due to similarity in culture and dialect. There is a high possibility of involvement. He further highlighted that although no such cases have been registered, it is suspected that many of them were already living in rented houses in the main Churachandpur city area. of Singhat The trip report said.
The report of the subcommittee’s visit to the first village, Holenfai, states, “Shri T. Basant Kumar Singh calls on all illegal immigrants to come forward and join the shelter homes, not to hide among the local people, in support of the humanitarian goodwill gesture extended by the Government. “Appeal to do.” He left on March 26, 2023 – said.
Border pillar at Gamphazol village
A unique problem came to light in Gamphazol village of Chandel district. The district commissioner said the IMB (India-Myanmar border) falling in Chandel district is “different from other neighboring districts” as it has a sparsely populated vast area of forest spanning 60-75 km between border pillars number 72 and 49.
Conversation at Gumphazol Community Hall on March 29, 2023
The report said, “It was also suggested that it may not be possible for a single temporary shelter to serve all such immigrants in the region and proposed such temporary shelters at Gamphazol in the northern part and Somdal in the southern part. They went.” It was said about the visit of the subcommittee to this border village on March 29, 2023. The district commissioner said he found 628 “illegal immigrants” on the stretch of IMB falling in Chandel district, of which 250 were in Gamphazol village.
Subcommittee meets Myanmar MP ousted by junta
In Holenphai, the three ministers met Thammasei Haokip, a Myanmar member of parliament before the junta overthrew the government, who told the subcommittee that he would follow all rules and regulations while being a refugee in India and would return to Myanmar once the issue was resolved. “Finished/disposed of,” the report said.
“He (Thamsi Haokip) explained that because of the military junta in his country, he has come to Manipur, the closest state to the world’s largest democratic country, in the hope of providing humanitarian support at a time when citizens cannot live outside in Myanmar. He told the state government Appealed to provide identity card and permission/facility to earn livelihood. He also said that he will go back after the issue is resolved in Myanmar.
The foreign parliamentarian asked before the subcommittee to transfer Myanmar nationals detained as illegal immigrants to the proposed shelter homes, and urged them not to be treated as illegal immigrants because they fled the junta regime , where “civilians are being killed”.
Wooden planks were laid out ready to build houses in Gamphazol by Myanmar immigrants and refugees fleeing violence in their country
Gamphazol Village, Chandel
A wooden shelter built by Myanmar refugees at Gamphazol in Chandel district
Gamphazol Village, Chandel
An activist from the Kuki tribe, who claims to know the Myanmar MP personally, told NDTV that the foreign politician has deep links with the Kuki National Army (Burma), or KNA(B). Thammasei Haokip has taken refuge in a relatively safe, wooded area on the India-Myanmar border, the source said, adding that trusting people like Thammasei Haokip is a big move for the Meitei community because of the precedent set by another Myanmar. There will be a challenge. The original leader, Thanglienpau Guite.
The Manipur government has blamed uncontrolled entry of illegal immigrants from Myanmar as one of the factors responsible for the violence. It also cites “unnatural growth of villages” due to alleged settlement of illegal immigrants by village heads.
Example set: Myanmar MP turns leader of militant group
Meitei civil society groups are sensitive to any mention of leaders of Myanmar origin in the context of Manipur. Chief Minister N Biren Singh has said that this is due to sensitivity the way thanglianpau guite The “Myanmar-born” politician, who contested MP elections in his home country and who later became the chairman of militant group Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) – was welcomed by the then Congress government when P Chidambaram was the Union Home Minister. United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
ZRA is a signatory to the controversial Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement, which expired in February this year.
Cabinet subcommittee and other teams at the police station at Singhat in Churachandpur district on April 1, 2023
More than two dozen Kuki-Zo rebel groups fall under two major groups – the Kuki National Organization (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF). The two, representing others, have signed the SOO agreement, which states that rebels must live in designated camps with weapons kept in closed storage, to be regularly monitored.
Meitei leaders have alleged that the SHO groups have been working for years to strengthen themselves by taking advantage of the ceasefire until the time came to violently attack for a breakaway land. Geopolitical analysts have speculated that Kuki armed groups were used as mercenaries to fight Meitei and Naga militants operating along the India-Myanmar border.
In a statement in June 2023, Myanmar’s government-in-exile – a month after the Manipur conflict – asked its citizens “temporarily sheltered” in India to “refrain from any actions prejudicial to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.” Said.”
The National Unity Government (NUG) in the statement asked Myanmar nationals taking “asylum” in India and their organizations to avoid unnecessary involvement in the politics and administrative activities of India, and asked them to live in harmony with the host communities. . NUG also appealed to Myanmar citizens not to get involved in drug trafficking.
Barrack inspection at Singhat, Churachandpur on April 1, 2023
The Manipur government announced on January 18, 2023 that it would form a subcommittee to identify “immigrants/refugees from Myanmar”; The state government announced the composition of the three-member panel on 16 February, and on 24 March ordered the police to investigate the number of immigrants from Myanmar in five districts – Tengnoupal, Chandel, Churachandpur, Pherzawal and Kamjong.
While the February 16 announcement referred to the subcommittee as a committee that would work on identifying “Myanmar immigrants/refugees” in the state, reports of the subcommittee’s visits referred to them as “illegal immigrants.” Was done.
Myanmar refugees in Mizoram
Neighboring state Mizoram has given shelter to more than 40,000 Myanmar refugees. Mizoram government sources told NDTV on November 10 that it has been almost three years since the coup in Myanmar, and in a small state like Mizoram, feeding and caring for all the displaced people and refugees remained a major challengeThere were also concerns over the increase in drug trafficking. Sources said the Mizoram government cannot thank the Central government enough for the huge help it is providing to the state in providing adequate resources to deal with the refugee crisis.
“The people of Mizoram are not immune to the tensions arising from all these efforts. There is growing discontent within our own community as well, especially among the intellectual class. Yes, we are welcoming them as brothers and sisters, but What are we getting back in return? We are getting medicines, this and that. So the frustration is growing,” the source told NDTV.
The Kuki tribes have criticized the Manipur government for not treating refugees from Myanmar humanely like in Mizoram.
There are many villages of Kuki tribes in the hills surrounding the Meitei dominated valley. More than 250 people were killed in the clashes and about 50,000 were internally displaced. The general category Meiteis want to be included in the Scheduled Tribe category, while the Kuki tribes want a separate administration from Manipur, citing discrimination against the Meiteis and unequal sharing of resources and power.
