How refugee influx in NE led to communal clashes

The distrust among the communities has intensified over the reported entry of refugees, whose details were not recorded. And, as they follow the same culture and language, it would be difficult to identify them later. Thus, they would become voters and be counted in the Census. This conflict among the communities, though, is mostly rhetoric, with no violence reported as yet. But who knows, with the vitriolic statements being uttered, when a small ember could enflame the whole state.

Social aspect: Refugees from Myanmar are causing a strain in the North-East. Reuters

RK Nimai

Former Bureaucrat

The military coup on February 1, 2021, in Myanmar led to a large-scale displacement of population. India, claiming that it is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, advised the states on the border to not accept any refugees from Myanmar. India’s stand is consistent with the one taken earlier on the Rohingya refugees. The people settled across the border, especially in Manipur and Mizoram, are from the cognate tribes and Mizoram refused to accept the Central directive and regulated the entry of the refugees. Thus, by July, about 30,100 refugees from Myanmar had entered Mizoram. On the other hand, Manipur, despite requests by various individuals and organisations, refused to regulate their entry and so it is not known how many refugees have actually entered Manipur. It has been reported that during internal discussions in the UNHRC, the estimated figure of 4,000 is bandied around. However, those who are working at the ground level feel the figure is above 10,000.

There have been cases of Myanmar citizens having been caught for using fake Aadhaar cards, and a number of them have been arrested on many occasions in Manipur. But the problem does not end there. In Manipur, around 36 communities are settled, the largest being the Meitei and the smallest Tarao, who number around 1,100 only. The communities are roughly divided into Meitei and Pangal (Muslim) in the valley and Naga and Kuki in the hills. Those settled along the border with Myanmar are mostly Kuki-Mizo-Chin groups, while across the border, they are known as Chin.

Till 1992, communal clashes were unheard of in the state. But that year saw a Naga-Kuki clash in which about 1,000 Kukis and 370 Nagas were reportedly killed. The conflict is territorial, with the Nagas claiming that the Kukis came later and were grabbing land belonging to them.

The NSCN (IM), with the idea of a Southern Nagaland, desires that in areas where the Nagas are in majority, there should not be any Kuki.

Then, in 1993, the valley witnessed a Meitei-Pangal clash in which most of the 100 victims were Pangals.

The Naga-Kuki clash led to an internal displacement of the Kukis as they flocked to the erstwhile Churachandpur and Chandel districts. In response to the execution of nine Paites by the Kuki underground elements in June 1996, violent clashes took place between the two communities, resulting in the death of about 350 persons, till a peace settlement was reached at in September 1998. Fortunately, ever since, communal violence on a large-scale has been absent.

The Nagas had branded the Kukis as migrants as they arrived much later, starting sometime in the 18th or 19th century. Following an increase in the population and with political machinations aimed at winning elections, communal cards were played by some leaders, which resulted in the conflict. Though the Meitei and Nagas do not see eye to eye on many issues, they led a movement to fight the late arrivals. Even the NSCN (IM) claims that only the Meitei and Naga are indigenous people of Manipur. Recently, the Federation of Haomee published that only 25 communities are indigenous or native people of Manipur and that they include only the Meitei and Naga communities. This was strongly objected to by the Kukis and Pangals.

The objection to accept the cut-off date of 1951 for the definition of native people under the Inner Line Permit regime by the Kuki-Mizo-Chin group led to the accusation that being late migrants, they had objected to this cut-off year as many of them would then have been treated as non-native. The 2001 and 2011 Census figures were objected to by even the state government as they showed an arbitrary increase in some hill areas, resulting in table manipulation which did not find many takers. The decadal population growth of Manipur from 2001 to 2011 is 24.5 per cent and the tribal population, which mostly inhabits the hills, is 57.51 per cent. This cannot be ascribed to natural process, but only to either data manipulation or large-scale influx.

The distrust among the communities has increased by the reported entry of refugees, whose details were not recorded. And, as they follow the same culture and language, it would be difficult to identify them later. Thus, they would become voters and be counted in the Census. This conflict among the communities, though, is mostly rhetoric, with no violence reported as yet. But who knows, with the vitriolic statements being uttered, when a small ember could enflame the whole state.

The distrust between the Meitei and the tribals, both Nagas and Kukis, has led to innumerable economic blockades and counter-blockades, even as, on the other hand, the conflict between the Nagas and Kukis has flared up. Earlier, the Meitei and the Kukis sided with each other on many occasions to checkmate the NSCN (IM), but in the past few years, the Nagas and Meitei have sided on specific issues. While the Meitei and Nagas have had no capacity to bring in immigrants, the Kukis and Muslims did so in large numbers and their population slowly increased with every Census.

The Pangals, who came in large numbers during the reign of Meidingu Khagemba (1597-1652), comprised 6.62 per cent in the 1971 Census and 8.4 per cent in 2011. The ST population comprised 32.31 per cent in 2001 and rose to 40.88 per cent in 2011, thereby causing concern among the Nagas and Meitei. The next Census may see a further increase in the percentage.

In such a situation, the coming in of a few thousand members of a community will cause a further strain in communal relationships. Besides the refugees who came after the Myanmar military coup, there are reports of members of a particular community coming into Manipur to work as labourers in the illicit poppy plantation. Mizoram can manage the refugees as there, the details are recorded and all belong to cognate tribes. But in Manipur, with no records of those who entered and the numbers estimated on hearsay, there is the likelihood of the cauldron of communal tension boiling over.