Around 500 Kuki-Zo women have been blocking a 60-by-24-foot stretch of the Imphal-Moreh National Highway 102 in Manipur to prevent the movement of a company of Manipur police personnel to Moreh, a border town.
However, the protesters, who are camping at Tengnoupal, have no objection
to the deployment of central forces in Moreh, around 105km from Imphal. Moreh is a Kuki-Zo majority area.
On Monday, the women only allowed a Gorkha Regiment convoy to move to Moreh.
They also displayed a banner that said “Welcome To Tengnoupal” when the soldiers passed by the protest site. Civilian vehicles are also allowed.
The protesters have been at the blockade site 24/7, even when it is raining, to ensure that the “11-vehicle convoy” of the Manipur Rifles/India Reserve Battalion, having about 75 personnel, does not go past them.
The group has “no” faith in the state forces, which it sees as a “threat” to the Kuki-Zo people in Moreh bordering Myanmar.
Veronica Touthang, one of the protesters, said over the phone on Monday: “Our voices are not being heard. We have blocked the movement of the state forces to Moreh because they are a threat to the life of the Kuki-Zo people. It is a peaceful protest.”
“We sit on the road, we sleep on the road, rain or shine. It is tough but we will not leave until the stranded state forces return to Imphal,” she said, adding it has been raining since 2pm on Monday.
Support for the Tengnoupal protest was extended by the Indigenous Tribes Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) women’s wing and the Community on Protection of Tribal Unity (COTU) on Monday.
The two Kuki-Zo groups organised a protest against the movement of state forces to Moreh at Lamka (Churachandpur) and Kangpokpi during the day.
Thangboi Lhungdim, president of the Tengnoupal district unit of the Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO), said the protesters had not allowed the state forces to pass since Friday morning because they were “apprehensive” about the presence of “members of the radical Meitei groups -– Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun” in the police convoy.
The suspicion reflects the deep mistrust among the communities since the violence started on May 3. The strife has led to the deaths of at least 158 people and displaced 60,000 from both communities.
The women protesters at Tengnoupal are from Tengnoupal and nearby villages. The protest is organised by the civil society organisations of the district, and led by the Kuki Women Union for Human Rights, Tengnoupal district, Veronica said.
Thangboi Lhungdim of the KSO, echoing Veronica, said they had “lost” faith in the state forces because they “are the ones who lead the attack on our people with members of the two radical Meitei groups”. The police have been denying the charge.
“Peaceful protests to send back the state forces were also held in Lamka and Kangpokpi on Monday. We are firm in our demand. We are not against state police forces but we don’t want any Meitei police personnel in Moreh and we don’t want any additional police forces in Moreh,” he added.
The ITLF said on Monday that it was “alarmed” over the BJP-led Manipur government’s “attempt” to station state security forces in Moreh.
A police source told The Telegraph that state forces were being sent to Moreh to beef up security in the area which had seen violence on May 3, May 29 and July 26 when abandoned houses of the Meitei people were set on fire. There was also a standoff between security forces and a crowd, the source said.
“They are allowing central forces to pass. The BSF and the Assam Rifles are already there in Moreh. The women don’t want the state forces, especially the Meitei personnel, in Moreh,” the police source added.
