Answers: Unrest in India's Manipur

Ethnic violence between the majority Meitei and the minority Kuki-Zo communities has engulfed India's northeastern Manipur state since early May. The Meiteis make up about 53 percent of the state’s population but are largely based in the Imphal Valley region, which covers only 10 percent of the state’s land. The Kuki-Zo largely live in the hills, which make up 90 percent of land. The Meiteis cannot buy land in the hills, because communities there including the Kuki-Zo have Scheduled Tribe status, which ensures some benefits to rectify historical inequality and discrimination.

Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar thousands of refugees sharing ethnic links with the Kuki-Zo have fled to neighbouring Indian states. Manipur’s chief minister (who is Meitei) called the refugees a serious threat to the demographic balance and led a drive to identify undocumented migrants. The state government accused the migrants of clearing protected forest land to cultivate drugs.

The violence began in May after the Manipur High court recommended the Meitei community be granted Scheduled Tribe status. This angered the Kuki-Zo, who feared this could pave the way for Meiteis to access their land. The months-long conflict over land, resources and identity has led to the state being effectively partitioned, with Kuki-Zo people in the valley fleeing to the hills and the Meiteis in the hills fleeing to the valley. Thousands of security forces have been deployed.

Answers

1) The influx of Chin refugees from Myanmar (who share ethnic ties with the Kuki-Zo) after the 2021 coup has been cited as one of the reasons for the rising animosity in Manipur. In the 1960s large numbers from an ethno-linguistic community of Indian heritage were forced to flee to Manipur’s border town of Moreh, following the military takeover in Burma in 1962. They were economically influential in Burma and the refugees in Manipur numbered about 20,000 at their peak (now about 3,000-strong). Which community?

Tamil. After Myanmar’s military junta expelled Indians in the 1960s, thousands of Tamils settled in Manipur’s border town of Moreh. They became economically influential there, maintaining links with Tamils still in Myanmar for cross-border trade. More here, here, here and here. More on how the ongoing conflict is affecting the Tamils here.

You can find more about the Tamil community’s links to Burma in my earlier quiz published after the 2021 coup.

2) Which Indian state has taken in the largest number of Chin refugees from Myanmar? Thousands of Kuki-Zo people have also been forced to move here from Manipur since the unrest began.

Mizoram. The state’s majority Mizo community shares ethnic links with Manipur’s Kuki-Zo, Myanmar’s Chin and Bangladesh’s Kuki-Chin. They collectively identify themselves as the Zo people. More here, here, here, here, here and here.

Some from Mizoram’s small Meitei community have left following threats. More here and here. The state government has assured their safety.

3) The Kuki Chin National Front has been demanding a separate state within another country (not India or Myanmar). Since November 2022 hundreds of Kuki-Chin have fled to India following a security operation. Which country?

Bangladesh. More here and here.

Courtesy Google Maps: Shows Manipur, Nagaland to its north, Mizoram to its south and Myanmar to its south and east.

Boundaries drawn during the British colonial era and after have left Manipur’s main communities scattered across three countries. The British handed over ethnically mixed Kabaw Valley to Burma in 1834, a few years after winning the First Anglo-Burmese war and forcing Burma to cede Manipur and Assam. The Maharaja of Manipur was paid an annual sum in return, an agreement that was ended after India’s independence. Politicians from Manipur in recent years have demanded the compensation be restored. More here, here, here, here and here.

The separation of Burma from British India in 1937 and India’s independence and partition and the creation of East Pakistan in 1947 (later Bangladesh) added to the fracturing of communities in India’s northeast. I had explored the impact of partition on Bengal and India’s northeastern states in an earlier quiz.

India has long had concerns about Meitei as well as Kuki-Zo separatist groups operating out of Myanmar. More here, here, here and here.

4) What was banned from screens in Manipur in 2000 by a separatist group? This ban was ignored this year on August 15, India’s Independence Day.

Bollywood (Hindi) films. The ban was imposed by Meitei-dominated separatist group Revolutionary Peoples’ Front. More here and here. The ban was defied by a Kuki-Zo tribal students’ body this year. More here, here

The 2014 Bollywood biopic Mary Kom on the Olympic medal-winning boxer from Manipur was not released in her home state. There was controversy over the casting of Priyanka Chopra, who is not from India’s northeast as Mary Kom. Chopra addressed the issue last year. More here and here.

5) The ban in the previous question led to another cultural force from thousands of kilometres away becoming wildly popular in Manipur, with help from CDs and DVDs smuggled from Myanmar. What?

K-pop, K-dramas and Korean cinema. More here, here and here.

6) He was a defender in India’s Border Security Force’s football team that won the Durand Cup in 1981 beating Calcutta’s Mohun Bagan. He was also the first football player from Manipur to play for a team from outside the state. Who?

N. Biren Singh, Manipur’s Chief Minister. More here and here.

In 1989 Kiren Khongsai became the first from the state to play for India. Since then dozens from Manipur have made it to the national team. In 2020 Ngangom Bala Devi became the first Indian woman to be signed by a professional club in Europe (Scotland’s Rangers). She has captained India and is the top scorer for the national team among women. More here, here and here.

In March 2023, the state hosted international games for the first time, holding a tri-nation tournament featuring India, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan. But the conflict has caused controversy as well as concern over the future of footballers in Manipur.

7) These two cities and surrounding areas saw British and Indian soldiers holding off Japanese forces in what was hailed as a decisive turning point in World War II. Military experts from Britain voted this battle as the most crucial in their history in a poll conducted by the National Army Museum, ahead of Waterloo and Normandy. Name the two cities.

Kohima, the capital of Nagaland and Imphal, the capital of Manipur. More here, here, here, here and here. Japan, which had occupied Burma was prevented from advancing on India.

8) December 12 is commemorated in Manipur as ‘Nupi Lan Day’. What does ‘Nupi Lan’, based on protests in 1904 and 1939 mean?

‘Nupi Lan’ means ‘Women’s War’. Thousands of women protested in 1904 against the imposition of forced labour on men. More on the protests in 1904 and 1939 here and here.

9) What controversial law, initially meant for Assam and Manipur, was passed by India’s Parliament in 1958? It’s been removed from parts of Manipur from 2022.

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA, initially known as Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act. The areas under AFSPA included the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. It gives special powers to India’s armed forces in ‘disturbed areas’ including arresting people without a warrant.

The Meira Paibi (women with flaming torches) movement by women began in the 1970s to combat alcoholism and drug addiction. They expanded their campaigns to protest against AFSPA, after the whole of Manipur brought under the act in 1980. In 2004, 12 women stripped naked in front of the Assam Rifles headquarters to protest against the rape, torture and killing of 32-year-old Manorama Thangjam, allegedly by security personnel. Irom Sharmila undertook the world’s longest hunger strike for 16 years until 2016 demanding AFSPA’s repeal and was force-fed through a nasal tube. AFSPA was repealed in parts of Manipur in 2022. More here and here.

The Meitei-dominated Meira Paibis’ role during the ongoing conflict has been contentious. They have been accused by security forces of shielding armed fighters, interfering with their operations and blocking highways to disrupt the passage of food and other essential supplies to Kuki areas in the hills. More here, here and here.

10) In the 1990s more than a thousand people were killed in Manipur in a years-long conflict between the Kuki-Zo and which other community?

Naga. Naga tribes dominate the state of Nagaland as well as some hill districts of Manipur. More on the 1990s conflict here and here. The Nagas maintain that they, along with the Meiteis, are the only two indigenous communities of Manipur. Both claim the Kukis settled in Manipur in large numbers only in the 19th century. A nuanced take on this claim here.

While Manipur’s Nagas oppose the Meitei demand for tribal status, they have stayed out of the current conflict. More here and here.

Manipur districts’ map courtesy: Sinlung123 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Kuki legislators have demanded a separate administration for the Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Chandel, Tengnoupal and Pherzawl districts. But some of those districts include Nagas and Naga groups have pushed back strongly. Nagas dominate the districts of Tamenglong, Ukhrul, Senapati and Kamjong. In the middle of the state are the densely populated Meitei-dominated valley districts including the capital Imphal.

The most prominent Naga separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim - Isak Muivah or NSCN (I-M) has been holding talks with the Indian government for years. Their key demand is a single administrative unit called ‘Greater Nagalim’ integrating all Naga-dominated areas in northeast India and Myanmar. ‘Greater Nagalim’ includes parts of Manipur (the group’s co-founder Thuingaleng Muivah is from Manipur’s Ukhrul district) and other communities in the state oppose it. Further muddying the waters, rival Naga separatists have also pushed back against the influence of Manipur-based Naga communities in NSCN (I-M). More here.

11) What’s the significance of Scotland-born William Pettigrew in the history of Manipur?

William Pettigrew was the first missionary to propagate Christianity in Manipur and began by converting Nagas in Ukhrul in the late 19th century. More here and here. Pettigrew initiated conversions to Christianity among the Kuki-Zo as well and the faith was spread by Baptist and Presbyterian missions. More here and here.

12) Within the Kuki-Zo, there’s a small community of about 10,000 people in northeastern India known as Bnei Menashe. Thousands from this community have migrated to another country, starting in 1989. Which country?

Israel. The Bnei Menashe’s claim of being descendants of a lost tribe has been endorsed in Israel. More here, here, here, here and here.

13) What dramatic change in Manipur was initiated by the 18th century King Pamheiba, also known as Gharib Nawaz? His reign was the high-water mark for Manipuri imperial power and successful raids into Burma were carried out.

Gharib Nawaz converted to Hindusim and made it the state religion of the kingdom he renamed Manipur (from Kangleipak). More here, here and here.

Thanks to Pras for alerting me about Manipur’s Loktak Lake, home to the world’s only floating park, though too late for the quiz. More about this rare phenomenon here and here.

Thanks to Arijit Sen for encouraging me to go ahead with a quiz on Manipur.