The Times of India (TOI) reported on Monday that a blockade on food and medical supplies by the valley-dwelling Hindu majority of the Manipur province is starving the hill-dwelling Kuki Christian tribes, thousands of whom have been displaced from their homes into refugee camps.
Manipur has been torn by violent ethnic conflict since May when the Meitei launched a petition to acquire the same preferences in employment and land ownership that are extended to the Kuki and other minority groups in the province. This enraged the tribal residents as the Meitei are much larger and better off than other ethnic groups, and they occupy most of the good lowlands in Manipur.
Ethnic grievances erupted into violent assault and vandalism, and Manipur became a hot topic in Indian politics as opposition leaders accused the ruling BJP party of not doing enough to restore peace, perhaps because BJP has a Hindu nationalist platform and favors the Meitei villagers.
The Kukis and Meiteis both created highway blockades to deprive each other of resources, a tactic that has been used in previous ethnic clashes because there are few good roads leading into the rough terrain of Manipur. Blockades during a Kuki-Meitei struggle in 2011 effectively cut the entire state off from the rest of India for over three months. On that occasion, the Kukis were demanding independence from the rest of the state.
Kuki protesters cut off the central Churachandpur district in April with a blockade that lasted two days. After initially calling for an even larger blockade, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) of Manipur decided to suspend protests and remove all roadblocks while negotiating with the Indian central government. The ITLF said it had “lost hope in the present government” of Manipur and would negotiate only with the national government.
Both the Kukis and the Meitei set up more blockades last month, with the Kukis shutting down National Highway 2, the main route into the Imphal valley, while the Meitei blocked roads into Churachandpur, the largest district in Manipur. Churachandpur has a sizable number of both Kuki residents and displaced refugees, with an estimated 10,000 people currently living in its relief camps.
The Kukis removed their blockades from National Highway 2 at the request of the Indian central government, but according to TOI, the Meitei have “steadfastly maintained their blockade” — bringing shortages of doctors and medicine for everything from kidney dialysis to cancer treatment to “critical levels.”
Read more at: www.breitbart.com