Kukis add conditions for Meitei hostages’ release; shutdown paralyses Imphal

Kuki groups negotiating with the government for the release of two Meitei hostages in ethnic violence-hit Manipur have added more conditions for their release even as a 48-hour shutdown demanding their safe rescue paralysed the capital Imphal on Wednesday.

On Friday last, Kuki militants abducted three Meitei youths, one of whom was released a day later. The Manipur Police chief has been in talks with Kuki organisations in the Kangpokpi district since Monday as part of the efforts to rescue the two. A second round of talks was held but no progress was made until late on Tuesday.

People aware of the matter said the Kukis have sought the transfer of all Kuki inmates from Sajiwa Central Jail in Meitei-dominated Imphal to Churachandpur and establishing a police station in Island Valley in Kangpokpi.

Businesses were separately shut and transport services were suspended in protest against the abduction. All government institutions, schools, and colleges were closed because of the Gandhi Jayanti. No untoward incident was reported during the shutdown.

The Joint Action Committee formed for the release of the two youths initially called for a shutdown from 3am on Tuesday in the Thoubal district. By late Tuesday evening, it announced the extension of the bandh to the entire state.

Violence between the majority Meitei community and tribal Kukis has rocked Manipur since May 3 last year. Rumours about the burning of the war centenary gate in Churachandpur triggered the violence.

The alleged use of drones to carry out attacks in September added a new dimension to the ethnic violence last month. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the use by Kuki militants of drones. The Assam Rifles and Army have expressed their doubts over the use of drone bombs. Manipur Police and the government have confirmed their use at the Koutruk village.

Police have maintained militants fired bombs and bullets at the village along with explosives dropped by drones. Kuki groups have denied the use of drones and maintained that chief minister N Biren Singh, who is a Meitei, spread a fake narrative of their volunteers using drones to drop explosives.

Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday cautioned against “wrong narratives” being spread and the pressing need to control them as a step towards restoring normalcy in Manipur. He said the situation in Manipur was “stable but tense”. He said the false narratives include the use of bomb drones and infiltration by 900 foreign militants from Myanmar.