India: in Manipur the old State’s control has not been restored
Featured: today’s massive burial in Churachandpur. Source: Hindustan Times
Although the situation in Manipur does not appear so often in the bourgeois press, the situation has not calmed down. In fact in the last week several incidents have occurred. The unstable situation that currently can be seen in the area is obvious.
Today a massive burial of 87 people from the Kuki-Zo people was carried out in Churachandpur. These bodies had remained unclaimed for months in the Imphal Valley, an area dominated by the Meitei people. This funeral was attempted on 18th of December, summoned by the Indigenous Tribal Leader’s Forum (ITFL), but it was disturbed by riots which caused dozens of injured. After these riots, a curfew of two months was imposed and Law 144 was applied in Churachandpur. This law bans the meeting of four or more people. A new ban of Internet access was also imposed for at least five days. The Old State claimed that this measure was in order to avoid the “spread of fake news and hate speech”.
The clashes between armed organizations outside of the state authorities has continued, and in fact the old Indian state has not only not been able to control the area, but is worse. After the massacre was committed, in which 13 bodies appeared at the beginning of December, Indian media and different statements indicated that after the beginning of the protests and riots in May the insurgent groups in Manipur had been reinforced, getting weapons, many recruits and acting openly in the region. In fact, a few days before the massacre, Manipur’s Prime Minister claimed that normalcy began in the area, but a few days later with the greatest massacre since the beginning of the disturbances in May it was obvious how wrong the statement from the Prime Minister was. Even high military ranks of the Indian Army, such as Lieutenant General Kalita, have stated that time-frames cannot be set for the restoration of normalcy in Manipur.
For its part, the Manipur Police continues to deal with the situation with repression and terror about the people. On the night of Monday, December 18, a Manipur Police Command murdered an innocent man at a control post of the police commands, where the civilian had been directed looking for family members. In response, on Tuesday the people in the area assaulted the house of the murderer, demanding justice not matter if it was an agent of the repressive forces.
