"Discussed Peace, Disarmament With Manipur Governor": Arambai Tenggol

A delegation of the Arambai Tenggol (AT) met Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla today and discussed the way forward for bringing peace in the border state, an AT spokesperson told reporters in the state capital Imphal.

The AT delegation sought assurance from the Governor that there would be no attacks on civilians after the surrender of firearms, and the central forces and the police would fill any security gap, which otherwise may force civilians to arms themselves again, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV, requesting anonymity.  

After the meeting at the Raj Bhavan that lasted for an hour, AT spokesperson Robin Mangang said they submitted a memorandum containing the same requests which they made before, which includes complete destruction of illegal opium poppy cultivation across the state, border-fencing, carrying out the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise with 1951 as the base year, and bringing the Meitei community under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category, among others.

In the memorandum, the AT also asked for "no arrest or legal action against village volunteers including Arambai Tenggol by any commission, tribunal, court, etc".

Mr Mangang said the line of discussion with the Governor was "to bring peace and normalcy in the state." He said the AT also conveyed "some internal conditions" which he would tell later.

"Definitely, there will be peace and normalcy in the state very soon," he said.

To a question about the surrender of firearms within the seven-day deadline set by the Governor, the AT spokesperson said, "We have some terms and conditions regarding the arms. If they are fulfilled, we will all surrender the weapons, no problem... Let us stay with peace and calm, like before. Everything is possible."

"The Governor is hopeful peace will come soon, and asked for our cooperation. Once the process of surrendering weapons is complete, the highways are opened, and people move freely, peace and calm will come," Mr Mangang said.

The valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur, have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh and his council of ministers resigned on February 9, after which the Governor placed the assembly in suspended animation, or MLAs active but without powers, following the imposition of the President's rule.

7-Day Deadline To Surrender Firearms

Days later, the Governor made the announcement for the surrender of looted and illegally held weapons by people from all communities.

While some firearms have been returned since the announcement, both the communities have been insisting that the authorities give assurance no armed groups or "volunteers" will be allowed to operate, except for the security forces.

Both the Centre and the Manipur government have faced severe criticism from the Opposition parties over the mushrooming of "armed volunteers" in both the communities since May 2023.

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The Governor's call for surrender of looted and illegally held weapons by people from both warring communities is significant since the state is under the President's rule. Kuki and Meitei civil society organisations have been asking the Centre to ensure simultaneous disarmament due to the severe loss of trust between the two sides - both accuse each other of attacking villages in the foothills, where the valley and the hills meet.

The Meitei community has alleged Kuki militants under the guise of "volunteers" have been attacking villages in the foothills, while the Kuki tribes have alleged the AT is a "radical Meitei militia" that have been attacking Kuki villages.

Kuki civil society groups have alleged the AT launched attacks on their villages along the inter-district borders after the first wave of clashes in May 2023, which forced the Kuki tribes to take up arms and form village defence forces. Many AT members have been named in cases of police armoury lootings.

The AT, however, says it was a cultural organisation that was compelled to take up arms as "village volunteers" due to ineffective law enforcement in the early days of the ethnic violence; it says lack of law enforcement led to Meitei villages in the foothills coming under attacks from Kuki militants.

Manipur's "Armed Volunteers"

While both sides call their armed individuals "volunteers", a similar feature is the weapons they use - AK and M series assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, crude and military grade mortars, high-end sniper rifles, surveillance drones, etc.

Banned Meitei militant groups such as the PLA, KYKL and KCP that had become nearly extinct in Manipur for the last 10 years also returned from Myanmar after May 2023 and due to the junta's diminishing hold in areas where the few remaining Meitei militants camped.

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The United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF (P), is the only Meitei militant group that signed a SoO-like ceasefire with the Centre and the state government.

The Kuki-Zo tribes have nearly two dozen insurgent groups that come under two umbrella organisations called the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People's Front (UPF). The KNO and UPF have signed the controversial SoO agreement whose terms include the insurgents staying at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly. Many of them face allegations of taking part in the Manipur violence.

The Manipur violence has claimed over 250 lives and displaced nearly 50,000 people.