Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita has termed the ethnic clashes in Manipur as a ‘political problem’. He said on Tuesday that until about four thousand weapons looted from the security forces are recovered from the common people, incidents of violence will continue.
The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command also said that India is granting asylum to anyone seeking asylum from Myanmar, including ordinary villagers, army or police in Mizoram and Manipur, but not those belonging to militant groups or drug smugglers. Not to armed cadres.
As far as the ground situation is concerned, he said, the objective of the Indian Army was initially to carry out rescue and relief operations for the people displaced from their homes. After this, Kalita said, we are trying to stop the violence. In which we have been successful to a great extent. But due to polarization between the two communities, Meitei and Kuki, some sporadic incidents keep happening here and there.’
Asked why normalcy has not returned to Manipur even after more than six-and-a-half months since the clashes began, he said there are some heritage issues between the three communities living in the state – Meitei, Kuki and Naga. . The Lieutenant General said that even before this there had been a conflict between the Kukis and the Nagas in the 1990s when about a thousand people were killed.
Till now only 1500 weapons have been handed over
What has happened now is that both the communities have become completely polarized, although the level of violence has reduced, more than five thousand weapons have been snatched from various police stations and other places. Out of those, only about 1500 weapons have been recovered, while about four thousand weapons are still outside. As long as these weapons remain in the society, such sporadic violent activities will continue.
Border posts exist in both states
At present, Assam Rifles is manning the India-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram and has border outposts in both the states along the international border, he said.
More than 31,000 people from Myanmar are living in Mizoram. These foreigners, mostly from Chin State, fled after the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021. Many people also took refuge in neighboring Manipur.
Over the past few weeks, dozens of Myanmar soldiers deployed near the international border with India fled to Mizoram after intense gunfights with the militia group People’s Defense Force (PDF). Later he was taken back to his country via Moreh in Manipur.
