CONNECTING THE DOTS: IS THE NEXUS BETWEEN COL NECTAR, MEITEI MILITIAS AND POLICE COMMANDOS?

Moreh is a tiny border town in Tengnoupal district and is strategically located along the Indo-Myanmar international boundary. The town is inhabited largely by the Kuki-Zo communities along with the Muslims (Meitei Pangals), Meiteis, Nagas, Tamils, Nepalis, and others. For decades, all these communities have been living together peacefully. Whenever there is misunderstanding between any two parties, all the major civil society organisations would come together and find a solution. However, the dynamics of inter-community relationship between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei in this cosmopolitan border town changed abruptly since the beginning of the state-sponsored violence on May 3, 2023.

When the ongoing ethnic pogrom began, the Kuki-Zo communities were caught unaware. Even after the violence began, they still thought that the state government and its law enforcing agencies would take everything in its hand to contain the spread of the riots. With this in mind, the Kuki-Zo people in Moreh, as in other Kuki-Zo dominated areas, did not attack any of the Meitei civilians even though some of their tribesmen had already been killed and many had been injured in the hands of state police forces under the command of a Meitei officer, Mr. Chingtham Anand, MPS, SDPO Moreh.

However, in contrast to what the Kuki-Zo had expected, the atrocities perpetrated by the state forces continued unabated. After the initial rampages, the town somehow limped back to normalcy. But slowly, as the state police commandos along with Arambai Tengol and VBIGs including those surrenderees were airlifted, Moreh once again became a violent-laden town.

In fact what we saw in the last one week, since 30th December 2023, is not something which occurred out of the blue but is rather a well-orchestrated plan initiated months ago. The whole process began since the ‘communal’ state government appointed a retired Meitei Army officer, Col. Nectar Sanjenbam, as a Senior Superintendent of Police (Combat) in Tengnoupal, a position never heard of before, purportedly to oversee the law and order situation in the district.

The logic behind the creation and posting of a Meitei officer in Tengnoupal, one of the most sensitive districts yet witnessing much lesser violence in the ongoing ethnic conflict speaks volumes.
Ever since the said appointment was made, the Kuki-Zo civil society organisations and the public denounced the sinister design of the state government for fear of their lives and properties since the SSP, apart from being a Meitei, is known for his deep connection with the VBIGs.

The appointment of Col. Nectar abruptly changed the manner in which the Meitei terrorists carried out attacks on the Kuki-Zo from commandos and Meitei militias leading large mobs to selective target and ambushes by small squads. The brutal murder of three village guards at Thowai Kuki village in Kamjong, a Tangkhul dominated district, on August 18; the killing of three civilians in an ambush along Kangchup road in Kangpokpi district on September 12; the brutal murder of two individuals between Haoraothel and Konsha (Liangmei-Naga) villages on November 20; and the attack and murder of one village volunteer at Zoupi village in Kangpokpi district on November 25, are few incidents which shows the change of tactics following the appointment of Col. Nectar.

Despite the repeated appeals to repatriate the Meitei commandos and militias to Imphal, the state administration remains adamant and continues with its devilish project. The intention behind the reinforcement of state police personnel and Meitei militias in Moreh is nothing but to terrorize the local populace and forcefully occupy the town which is the traditional home of the Kuki-Zo tribes. Unlike the Naga dominated hill districts, where no Meitei is allowed to settled, the Kuki-Zo’s sense of community feeling, Khankho/Tlawmngaihna, allowed every community including the Meiteis to settle in their dominated areas including Lamka, Moreh, Kanggui, etc. Yet taking advantage of the accommodative nature of the Kuki-Zo, the radicalised Meiteis began the current ethnic pogrom to snatch and occupy their lands. This exemplified the Manipuri maxim which goes as: Lepfam chaladi fampham challe//Phamfam challadi hipfam challe (Free Translation: If there’s a space to stand, there’ll be a space to sit//If there’s a space to sit, there’ll be a space to sleep).

In its attempt to push forward the narrative spearheaded by the dominant Meitei community, the Central Forces are often pressurized to ignore the presence of non-state actors in the midst of the state forces, thereby adding fuel to the fire. However, in an ethnic conflict situation such as this, the logic behind Meitei state forces being considered as “security forces” is irrelevant as their intention is purely to annihilate the minority Kuki-Zo community.

It may be noted that the peace loving Kuki-Zo people have never initiated any attack on the Meiteis in Tengnoupal district. One example worth mentioning is Kwatha, a Meitei village near Moreh in Tengnoupal district which is still standing however susceptible and vulnerable the village is. On the contrary, over 200 Kuki-Zo villages and localities in Imphal and its adjoining areas have been burnt, 158 killed, and 360 churches torched.

Now, as the state government did not pay heed to the demand of the Kuki-Zo to remove the Meitei police personnel and militias from Moreh, the town is likely to witness more clam in the near future. However, if the Union Home Ministry considers replacing the Meitei militias in police uniforms with neutral central forces, as done in other districts, normalcy will return in no time. Alternately, police personnel belonging to the Kuki-Zo may be posted instead of the Meitei police personnel.

If the central government had listened to the genuine appeals of the Kuki-Zo community to remove the state forces who were sent to Moreh to create trouble in the border town, the series of unwanted violence and destruction of properties witnessed so far could have been avoided.

As the chain of events speaks for itself, the Kuki-Zo community won’t stop until all these disguised state forces are withdrawn from Moreh town. The Kuki-Zo community may be weak, but will not easily give up their lands out of fear. Here it is pertinent to remember what William Shaw had written a century ago, soon after the Kukis were defeated in the hands of the mighty British after fighting nearly three years in the Anglo-Kuki War, 1917-1919. According to him, the Kukis believed they were destined to be rulers of their earth and not to be submissive to any one and therefore were “sometimes carried away by their ambitions”. He also said: “They [Kukis] do not consider themselves beaten yet and still brood over the future ahead… [though] their prestige among other hill tribes has been much shaken.” So, the Kuki-Zo had never given up in their fight against injustice in the past, and will never do so in the present too.

Therefore, it is imperative on the part of the Union Home Ministry to intervene and remove all the Meitei forces, and cancel the appointment order of Col. Nectar in order to restore peace and normalcy in the Kuki-Zo areas as Shri Amit Shah, the Hon’ble Union Home Minister, had promised in his maiden visit to Moreh in May 2023. This is the only way out to avoid further escalation of violence including gunfight and anti-human activities which otherwise is soon to cover the clouds of this border town Moreh.