Blockades Test Manipur's Move To Open Highways, Bring Normalcy

The Manipur government's decision to open two key highways in the state is facing resistance in the hill areas.

The move to fully secure the highways during the Christmas season is being seen as a big step towards restoring peace in the state where over 180 people have died and thousands have been internally displaced since violence began on May 3.

The shutdown called by the Kuki groups, however, puts the first small steps to peace at risk. 

The government has posted extra security forces on the two highways to resume bus services from the state capital Imphal to Mao to the north, passing via Kangpokpi, and from Imphal to Churachandpur to the south.

These two routes pass through hill and valley areas that have seen violence between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis.

Some of the buses that left for Mao, 110 km from Imphal, returned midway after facing a large number of protesters who blocked the road in Kangpokpi, despite the presence of security forces.

Visuals show people armed with single-barrel guns among the crowds stopping vehicles before allowing them to proceed after checking them.

Other buses that went to Churachandpur, 65 km from the state capital, could not enter the hill district as the Kuki tribes have blocked access following directions from the Kuki group Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), which said they have intelligence inputs about possible attempt to disrupt the Christmas season.

The stand-off in Kangpokpi led to tensions after the crowds came in front of the buses escorted by the security forces.

Due to this, the Governor's scheduled programme to inaugurate pre-fabricated homes at Kangpokpi's subdivision Champhai. The protesters also forced shops and businesses to pull down shutters. Though they did not stop the vehicles from passing the area, they stopped the buses and frisked the passengers, sources said.

Manipur has already seen a "dark Diwali" and the gloomiest Ningol Chakouba, which the Meitei community celebrates after Diwali, and is similar to Bhai Dooj except that in Manipur it is the brothers who welcome their sisters from their matrimonial homes for a grand feast. Christmas, too, is a gloomy time in Manipur this year.

A Kangpokpi-based Kuki group has asked the state government to withdraw the order for posting more security forces along the National Highway to prevent any incident.

In Churachandpur, the ITLF has said all non-tribals within the district are not allowed to move out and non-tribal from outside are can't move inside the district.

Questions have been raised over the conduct of the civil society groups whose aggressive actions appear to be only fuelling tensions.

Sources told NDTV on Saturday it was expected that in the initial days, many people would not turn up, especially after Kuki civil society groups opposed the move to open the highways. What is inexplicable is the shutdown of the districts by pressure groups when the authorities have ensured safe commute, sources said, adding they have come across hundreds of people who fled their burning homes and want to return to rebuild their lives.

The Kuki groups' move to shut down the districts stem from their allegations that the Manipur Police functioned with bias in how they operated amid the violence. The Manipur government's attempt to send police personnel in the hill districts where the Kuki tribes are settled had also faced strong resistance, especially in the border town Moreh near Myanmar, Churachandpur, and Kangpokpi.

The Supreme Court on November 29 specifically pointed out the role of some civil society groups in keeping tensions in Manipur simmering, during a hearing on burying bodies kept in morgues. Ordering the petitioners to bury the dead respectfully in designated sites instead of government land, the Supreme Court had said the petition appeared like an "idea only to keep the pot boiling."

The extra security forces deployed for highway security are led by Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Nishit Kumar Ujjwal and K Kabib.