How Fake Social Media Posts, Backed by Meitei Media Fuel Violence in Manipur

During the initial stage of violence in the state of Manipur in the early week of May 2023, the internet was blacked-out in the whole jurisdiction of the state, leaving the social media space to the Manipur citizens residing outside the state. Many fake news have been peddled and all this information has been passed onto people who reside in the state through phone calls or text messages. This unfiltered or unverified information has caused more damages than good. The Meitei media houses based in Imphal valley have acted as a catalyst in disseminating fake news, pouring more oil into the already inflamed volatile situations.

On May 4, 2023, a Meitei mob attacked B Phainom village in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district. They caught five villagers, killed the two men among them, stripped the three women, and groped and paraded them naked. An FIR filed in the case said the youngest was gang-raped.

“It was all because of fake news. The men were saying ‘this is revenge for the Churachandpur case,” one of the victims told ThePrint, a digital news platform.

The same day, an old video showing a couple of men firing automatic weapons were shared on social media claiming “Kuki people” were shooting at Meiteis.

The “Churachandpur case” - in which Meitei social media handles shared a graphic photo claiming it was the body of a Meitei nurse who was raped and killed by Kuki tribals - and the video of weapons being fired were both debunked by fact-checking websites.

But the damage had been done. These two videos and many other fake “news” that spread among Meiteis from May 3 had whipped up the community into a frenzy. The lynching of almost a hundred Kukis in the Imphal valley in the first two days of the ethnic conflict in Manipur can be partly attributed to the spread of these false information.

When violence broke out on May 3, 2023, Meitei social media handles began circulating a photo of a dead girl saying it was a Meitei nurse who was raped and murdered in Lamka. However, the photo turned out to be of a woman killed in Uttar Pradesh in 2022. The father of the purported Meitei nurse, K. Achouba, also spoke to a local news channel in Imphal, clarifying that his daughter was safe.

During this year-long crisis in the state, one of the most vocal in spreading hate messages and fake news is a 12-year old self-styled climate activist Licypriya Kangujam. Before May 3rd, most of her posts used to be related to climate activism. It suddenly changed course on May 3. Her social media account began sharing fake stories about Meitei women being raped by Kukis. In one of her posts, she uploaded a picture of a burned body and claimed it was a Meitei girl who was raped and burned alive by “Kuki illegal immigrants.”

Instead, the body was identified as that of Kuki woman Thiandam Vaiphei from Pheitaiching village in Kangpokpi district. Her local pastor Thiena Vaiphei, accompanied by Gorkha Rifles and personnel of Andro police station, identified and claimed the remains of the woman.

She even described tribals as “aliens”, parroting the propaganda of Meitei radicals and the chauvinist Chief Minister N Biren Singh.

With her social media reach and global image, Licypriya Kangujam has done more than most people in spreading hate and radicalizing the Meitei community.

Besides Licypriya Kangujam, Meitei influencers such as Soma Laishram, RK Ichanthoi and others too have been passively involved in disseminating fake news.

As though the spreading of false news on social media and on the streets was not enough, the mainstream Meitei media went full throttle in publishing biased and, on many occasions, totally fabricated stories.

On June 9, 2023, the Meitei militants dressed in army combat gear attacked Khoken village in the New Keithelmanbi area of Kangpokpi district in the early morning around 4 am. The villagers thought it was a combing operation by the army as they were all dressed in Army uniforms. Suddenly the villagers were shot with automatic rifles. Three villagers died on the spot while two others were injured.

However, contrary to the actual incident, Meitei media with malaise intention reported it wrongly. A Meitei digital news site called HY News said eight Kuki militants were killed in a fierce gunfight between the Kuki militants and village volunteer forces. They even called one of the deceased, Pi Domkhohoi, aged 67, as a sniper shooter.

Mainstream media like The Hindu reported it correctly. As per The Hindu report, the woman, Domkhohoi, had gone to the local church to pray when she was killed. The ludicrousness of Meitei media is beyond imaginable.

Not content with the biased news, the Meitei media occasionally published totally fabricated stories to confuse the public.

On August 13, 2023, Imphal Free Press said, Kuki and Paite militants in Churachandpur town and Sangaikot area were shooting at each other in the streets with guns and snipers. Earlier in June, Meitei vernacular paper had reported that ‘ZRA’ and ‘Kuki militants’ were fighting each other in Chiengkon area of Lamka.

Imphal based media are goods at words, twisting news report as per their whims and fancies to suit their narratives. One such instance is the release of 5 Meitei youths who had been under the custody of Kuki volunteers. They were released on July 2 by the Kuki volunteers as a humanitarian gesture.

However, the good gesture was diluted by the Meitei media house. The Imphal Free Press reported that the five civilians were rescued from Kuki militants. On the contrary, mainstream media houses like India Today reported that the Kukis had released 5 Meitei youths as a gesture of peace.

These are some of the wrong news reporting done by Imphal based media house, which if we were to list it exhaustively, would be countless. “If you don’t read Meitei newspapers, you’ll be uninformed; if you read you’ll be misinformed,” is the cliché that clicks with them.