Manipur has witnessed a tumultuous 12 months with violence rocking the state amid the Kuki vs Meiti row. With 2024 coming to an finish, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday apologised for the violence and hoped for a restoring normalcy in 2025. He mentioned that the state’s progress up to now three months has been optimistic.
“This whole 12 months has been very unlucky. I really feel remorse and I wish to make an apology to the folks of the state for what is going on until as we speak, since final Could 3. Many individuals misplaced their family members. Many individuals left their houses. I actually really feel remorse. I wish to apologise,” mentioned CM Singh.
He additional hoped for return of normalcy within the coming months. “After seeing the final 3-Four months’ progress in direction of peace, I hope that with the New 12 months 2025, normalcy and peace will probably be restored within the state. I wish to enchantment to all of the communities of the state that no matter occurred has occurred. We now need to overlook previous errors and have to start out a brand new life. A peaceable Manipur, a affluent Manipur, we must always all reside collectively,” mentioned CM Biren Singh.
Sharing the main points of the violence, CM Singh mentioned that round 200 folks have died, round 12,247 FIRs had been registered and 625 accused have been arrested to this point. “Round 5,600 arms and weapons together with explosives and round 35,000 ammunitions had been recovered. Good progress is there in tackling the problems. The central authorities has supplied sufficient safety personnel and sufficient funds to assist the displaced households and sufficient funds to assemble new homes for the displaced individuals,” mentioned Singh.
Recent Restoration Of Arms
In the meantime, the safety forces have recovered an enormous cache of arms and ammunition throughout a search operation in Imphal West district of Manipur, police mentioned on Tuesday. The seized objects embrace pistols, weapons, rifles, a carbine and hand grenades, the officers mentioned.
Manipur Violence Background
As soon as celebrated for its cultural concord, Manipur now grapples with escalating divisions, leaving hundreds displaced and communities trapped in perpetual worry. In 2024, the rift between the Meitei group within the valley and the Kuki tribes within the hills widened additional, sparking human casualties, widespread violence, mob assaults, and even drone strikes on civilian areas. Peace stays elusive as tensions present no indicators of abating.
The 12 months began on a violent word when 4 villagers had been gunned down by cadres of the banned Peoples’ Liberation Military in Thoubal district on January 1. The incident, linked to disputes over cash collected by unlawful drug commerce, pressured the state authorities to impose prohibitory orders in all 5 valley districts.
The Lok Sabha elections had been held in April in opposition to the backdrop of intense ethnic rigidity between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities.
For the primary time, the ethnic violence, beforehand confined to Imphal valley and surrounding districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi and Moreh border city in Tengnoupal district, took a brand new flip when a person was discovered useless in Jiribam district bordering Assam in June. The incident triggered a recent wave of ethnic violence, widespread arson, gunfights, and the torching of homes between members of the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.
Greater than 1,000 folks had been internally displaced following a spate of gun assaults by armed teams of respective communities within the beforehand peaceable district, inhabited by a number of communities.
