THE TRAGIC DIVIDE

Meiteis are 53 per cent of Manipur's population, but occupy only 9 per cent of its land. The Kuki-Zo tribes, 16 per cent of the population, are spread over 28 per cent

- By KAUSHIK DEKA

GENESIS OF THE CONFLICT

The Meiteis seek more space, but are barred by law from buying land in the hills that are reserved for tribals, including Kuki-Zos

The Kuki-Zos resent their political marginalisation and Meitei control over state power structure, with 40 out of 60 seats in the assembly

Kuki-Zo fears heightened when the HC directed the government in 2023 to consider ST status for Meiteis, which would enable them to buy land in Kuki-Zo areas

The Kuki-Zos saw CM Biren Singh's crackdown on drug trade and illegal immigration as targeting them in particular

The resultant violence saw Manipur ethnically segregated into Meitei and Kuki zones; 58,000 displaced still in camps

THE BROKEN HIGHWAY

Kuki-dominated stretches of Manipur's lifeline NH2 are inaccessible to Meiteis, and Meitei areas are out of bounds for Kukis. A Kuki of Churachandpur, two hours from Imphal airport, must travel nearly 10 hours to Aizawl in Mizoram to catch a flight. Meiteis, too, cannot safely exit the Imphal valley via NH2 to reach neighbouring Nagaland, Mizoram or Assam.

“Modiji, I want to go back home.” The cry cut through the crowd that had gathered in Churachandpur on September 13 to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was visiting Manipur 28 months after the state was wracked by ethnic violence in May 2023, which left 258 dead, 62,000 displaced and 4,786 houses burned. The voice belonged to 40-year-old Hoitimneng Haokip, mother of two school-going children and a Kuki from Loibol Khunou village in Kangpokpi, standing outside the Sangai relief camp in Churachandpur. But it was a question R.K. Bilasana, 48, a Meitei from the border town of Moreh, had for the prime minister as well. Bilasana's life is now in limbo, as a refugee at the Thonju Kendra relief camp in Imphal.