Manipur retracted intel input on Myanmar infiltration to prevent Kuki-Meitei flashpoint

Preventing a potential flashpoint between Kukis and Meiteis is being cited as a key reason behind Manipur Government’s climbdown on an input claiming targetted attacks by 900 Kuki militants from Myanmar on September 28, according to sources aware of developments.

The development follows threats by Meitei groups to launch counter-attacks on Kukis in anticipation of the supposed targetted attacks.

Highly placed sources told The Tribune that ever since Manipur government’s security adviser Kuldiep Singh had said on September 20 that reports had been received about 900 highly trained Kuki militants from Myanmar planning to launch multiple attacks on Meitei villages on September 28, prominent Kuki groups had called for a complete shutdown in areas under their dominance on the said date.

Meitei groups also gave a call for a pre-emptive strike against Kuki militants before they launched their purported attack on September 28. Even as the Manipur Government said on September 25 it could not substantiate its own claim regarding the probable September 28 attack by Kuki militants, sources said the climbdown by the state government was an attempt to prevent a possible flashpoint between the two warring communities.

Sources emphasised that with relative peace prevailing in the state for the past 15 days after violence had erupted on September 1 — when drone bombs were dropped on villages — the claim made by Kuldiep, who also heads the Unified Command set up by the Centre to ensure peace in Manipur, had led to a lot of bad blood between Kuki and Meitei groups, which was heading towards a boiling point.

“The government played down its earlier claim, saying it could not be substantiated, as both the groups were threatening counter-attacks on each other. This might have been the main reason behind it,” a highly placed source told this newspaper.

Soon after Kuldiep’s “targetted attacks” press conference on September 20, prominent Kuki groups led by Kuki Inpi had given a call for a total shutdown on September 28 in areas dominated by the community, in anticipation of the purported attack.