How a relatively peaceful district became the ‘new battleground’ in Manipur
Widespread arson in Jiribam following a murder has forced 900-odd Meiteis into relief camps. Hundreds of Kuki-Zos have fled to neighbouring Assam.
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It was almost a daily affair for 59-year-old farmer Soibam Sarat Kumar Singh to ride his motorcycle from his village in Manipur’s Jiribam district to his farm 4 km away.
Along his way were villages belonging to different communities – from Meiteis to Bengali Hindus and Muslims, from Khasis to Pangals, Hmar and Kukis.
The diversity is typical of Jiribam, a tiny Manipur district that had, unlike the rest of the state, not been overtaken by ethnic clashes between the Kuki-Zos and Meiteis that broke out in May last year.
Even during the worst months of the ethnic conflict, Singh had little reason to fear on Mullargao road.
“There were a few minor incidents and tension between the two communities, but there were no major incidents of violence in Jiribam,” said Soibam Ronald Singh, the farmer’s 28-year-old son.
That changed on the evening of June 6, when his father, who was supposed to return home on his motorbike from the farm, did not turn up.
A few hours later, Soibam Sarat Kumar Singh’s mutilated body was found near a Kuki village. According to the first information report filed by Singh’s wife Romola Devi, her husband was “forcibly abducted by some unknown persons suspected to be from the Kuki community”.
The discovery of Singh’s body...
