Status War

Nine months of violence have left the once syncretic Manipuri society divided between tribalism, ethnic revivalism and religious majoritarianism

- Rakhi Bose

THE roads leading to the Mini Secretariat in the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district of Manipur were chock-a-block with hundreds of protesters on February 15 when security forces opened fire. A 15-year-old Kuki youth, resident of the nearby S Canan Veng village, was passing by the commotion, on his way home, when a bullet hit him, killing him instantly. A desolate father, Seilal Haokip has dubbed the death of his minor son as an “institutional murder”. Another civilian, Letlalkhuol Gangte, 29, lost his life in the firing which left 25 people injured. The tragedy seems to have only galvanised the tribals further in their resolve to sever ties with the dominant Meitei community.