It is waiting for peace in a country of India divided by violence

It has been more than a year since a deadly ethnic conflict destroyed homes and claimed more than 220 lives in India’s northeastern state of Manipur. But its more than three million inhabitants are still waiting for peace.

Conflict it exploded in May of last year between the majority of the Meitei and the small Kuki traditional groups – caused by Kuki protests against the Meiteis’ demands to be granted legal citizenship status, which would qualify them for affirmative action and other benefits.

The violence displaced tens of thousands – some 59,000 people are still living in government relief camps. It divided neighborhoods and divided bonds between communities.

Today, Manipur is divided into two camps, with the Meiteis living in the Imphal Valley and the Kukis living in the surrounding hilly areas. Borders and buffer zones guarded by security forces separate the two regions. Many locals have voluntarily taken up arms – some stolen from the armed forces, some made for the country – to defend their villages from invaders.

Federal and state officials have made efforts to end the conflict by holding peace talks between communities, but local people say it is not enough – the latest peace agreement signed in the region. collapsed during the day. Mistrust between the two groups continues and incidents of violence, including killing of security personnelare regularly reported.

“The situation in Manipur is still tense and full of mistrust because people have to have confidence to move forward – and to move forward, there has to be a resolution of the past. There hasn’t been one,” said Sanjoy Hazarika, an analyst and writer who works in India’s northeastern states.

Both communities accuse the other of fueling the violence.

The state government and the Meitei community often blame illegal immigrants – mainly from neighboring Myanmar – for the conflict. The Kuki community, who share ethnicity with the Chin in Myanmar, say the story was used to target them in their own regions.

“The state needs a comprehensive intervention: militarily to stop the violence and psychologically to start negotiations. The establishment of trust [between Kukis and Meiteis] it is important. Trust cannot be built in a day,” said Shreema Ningombam, a political analyst in Imphal, the national capital.

In Sugunu village, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Imphal, the divide is clear.

It was once home to both the Meiteis and the Kukis, but the latter fled to the surrounding hills after the conflict began, leaving burned and looted houses behind.

Despite tight security, local people fear reprisal attacks from “outsiders”. Meitei women’s groups, known as Meira Paibis, entrances to the village.

Mr. Yumlembam Manitombi who is one of the guards said he lost his 29-year-old son in last year’s violence. He was the eldest of three children and was the sole breadwinner of the family.

They put him in the yard of their house. The painting below the bomb notes the reason for his death – it says Kuki Meitei War 2023.

“I want peace. Ending this war is my only desire and I want nothing else,” said Ms. Manitombi.

In Churachandpur, a conflict center controlled by Kuki, similar security measures are in place. The city’s entrance includes a “Memorial Wall” that commemorates Kukis who died in the conflict.

Boinu Haokip and his family fled from Sugnu to Churachandpur last year to escape the violence and now live on odd jobs.

Ms Haokip, who is pursuing a degree in communal violence in Manipur, says her future looks bleak.

“I have to study and take care of my family. Our society has been poor for generations. We had started to come out of it, but this violence has set us back at least ten years,” he said.

Questions about the future are also troubling others as schools become makeshift camps. People lost businesses, land and jobs and wiped out their savings.

The violence also forced some to flee to camps in neighboring Mizoram. Due to lack of food, water, and medicine, people rely on odd jobs to survive.

Nengnei Chong, 52, fled with her two sons and has been living in a relief camp outside Mizoram’s capital Aizawl. But he says he regrets his decision to leave.

“It would be better if we also died at home,” he said.

Mizoram lawyer TBC Lalvenchunga says the state government has limited resources.

“The government is struggling financially. If the provincial government He listens to our repeated requests [for more funds]we can better help the refugees,” he said.

Locals blame the Bharatiya Janata Party-run Manipur and the federal government for not doing enough to end the violence.

Kuki groups have accused government authorities of ignoring the Meiteis’ violence for political gain, which the government denies. Opposition parties say the government has allowed the conflict to continue for a long time. The Congress party has once again criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur.

“Our government is making great efforts to restore normalcy in Manipur. Schools, colleges and offices in many places are open and functioning. There is hope for peace,” Mr Modi said in parliament recently.

But experts say mistrust between the two communities has deepened and divisions have deepened as the Kukis insist on “separate governance”, which Meiteis opposes.

“Peace building is a painful and slow process. It is easier to indulge in violence than to build peace. If the institution [federal government] able to bring both sides to the table, it will be a step in the right direction,” said Mr Hazarika.

But he warns that this will not be a quick process.

“Healing takes time and patience before you can move on.”

With comments from Dilip Kumar Sharma in Mizoram