CASUALTY OF TRUTH

Since ethnic violence broke out between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo tribes in Manipur last May, the district of Jiribam, 220 km west of Imphal and abutting Assam's Cachar district, had remained a rare pocket of peace.

- Kaushik Deka

The violence had split Manipur into stark enclaves: the Meiteidominated Imphal Valley and the Kuki-controlled hill districts, separated by strips of no man's land guarded by central forces. Jiribam, a typical border transit zone that houses nearly the entirety of Manipur's ethnic medley, stood as a fragile refuge until June, when the discovery of a Kuki teenager's body led Kuki groups to blame a Meitei armed group for the killing. Days later, the body of a Meitei man was found, allegedly killed in retaliation by a Kuki group. Since then, violence in Jiribam has claimed nearly two dozen lives.

Confined within their enclaves, both communities are now vying for control over shared areas like Jiribam, through which a national highway-Manipur's lifeline to the rest of India-passes. Critics also say that Jiribam's proximity to Mizoram-predominantly inhabited by Mizos, who are part of the broader Kuki-Zo tribal group-makes it significant to the Kuki demand for a separate administrative unit.

The latest cycle of violence began on November 7 with a horrific attack in Jiribam's Zairawn village. A Hmar woman, a schoolteacher and mother of three, was allegedly raped, killed and set on fire. The Hmars are a subgroup of the Kuki-Zo, and Kukis quickly blamed Meitei militants. Retaliatory violence didn't take long coming. On November 9, a Meitei woman was shot dead by suspected Kuki militants in Bishnupur. Two days later, the CRPF killed 10 suspected Kuki militants who had launched an attack on Borobekra police station and the adjacent CRPF camp at Jakuradhor in Jiribam. The armed militants came from Kuki-dominated Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts, reveals a police report. During the confrontation, three women and three children went missing from a relief camp within the police station. Later that day, a photograph of the missing group surfaced online, fuelling outrage. Meitei groups allege the family had been abducted by the Kukis.