Imphal: The tensions have again escalated in Manipur’s Imphal after a firing incident that has left at least 16 injured in the Phayeng area of Imphal East, bordering Kangpokpi.
The incident took place a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s three-day Manipur visit ended. The minister had been in the state 25 days after violence broke out and gave way to brutal ethnic battles that led to 98 deaths and over 37000 displaced.
According to the latest statement issued by the Chief Minister’s office, locals had to flee to Tangjeng village in the aftermath of violence, in Bethel village in Churachandpur district, a house was burnt down. In total, 37,450 people are currently in 272 relief camps.
Manipur, a beautiful mountain state of India is constituted by three major groups; the Meitei, the Naga tribes, and the Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes. The Meitei are predominantly Hindus, representing about 51 percent of the state’s population and dwell in the Imphal valley that occupies roughly 10 percent of the state’s land. The latter two groups represent 21 percent of the state’s population each and are predominantly Christians living in the hills surrounding the Imphal valley occupying 90 percent of Mnaipur’s land.
The Naga and the Kuki tribe have a history of conflict and the first significant clash occured during the Kuki rebellion against the British labour conscription for the First World War. The Meiteis clashed with the Muslims in the 1990s, with Muslims bearing the brunt of the violence.