Biren Singh scurries to mend new fault line as Muslim man’s death flares up Manipur crisis
The latest flashpoint is the killing of a Muslim driver and injuring of three others, including two sisters, allegedly by a Meitei mob
Manipur Chief minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday night scurried to mend a new fault line that seems to be emerging in Manipur even as the trouble-torn state is trying to limp back to normalcy.
The latest flashpoint is over the recent killing of a Muslim driver and injuring of three others, including two sisters, allegedly by a Meitei mob.
The driver, identified as Sangomsumpham Sahir, died on October 22, succumbing to injuries he sustained after getting caught in an inter-community marriage dispute sparked by the ongoing Kuki-Meitei conflict.
The killing has evoked sharp reactions from Manipur’s indigenous Muslim community known as Pangal.
Members of the Pangal community hold a sit-in in Imphal demanding justice for the slain driver. Photo: The Federal
Rallying under a joint action committee (JAC), formed over the killing, the community has refused to accept the mortal remains of Sahir for the last rites.
It has set a deadline till Friday morning for the state administration to book those involved in the “heinous crime”.
Muslim anger
“We will not take his body for burial until those involved in his killing are arrested,” JAC convenor Md Rafi Khan told The Federal, emerging from a meeting with the chief minister.
Representatives of the Pangal community under the aegis of JAC held a marathon meeting with the chief minister at his official bungalow on Wednesday night.
The chief minister tried to assuage the aggrieved community, urging them to maintain calm at a time when the state is already facing an unrest, said a state government official.
“The chief minister appealed to us to maintain peace and assured us that the state government would leave no stone unturned to arrest the culprits,” Khan said.
Following the chief minister’s assurance, the JAC extended its deadline for the arrest of the culprits. Its earlier 48-hour deadline had expired on Wednesday.
The community has been holding sit-in demonstrations to push for its demand since the demise of Sahir.
Ethnic divide
Vehicles of Sahir of Kshetrigao and another driver, Md Abir of Sora, were hired by two sisters, Sarabanu and Victoria Leibujam, on October 19 to bring cattle from Takhel in Imphal East district.
Victoria, who is married to a Kuki, had left behind six cows with her elder sister Manbi Leibujam when she and her husband left their home at Takhel in May.
Since she married a Kuki, Victoria did not feel safe to stay in the Meitei locality. Her husband had gone to a Kuki area, while she started living with her other sister Sarabanu, who is married to a Pangal and is staying in a Pangal locality in Imphal city.
When the two sisters reached their native village Takhel to bring the cows back, they and the drivers were attacked for “transporting goods of Kukis”.
Drivers from the Pangal community are mostly criss-crossing the two separate zones created due to complete segregation of Meitei and Kuki dominated areas since the ethnic violence erupted on May 3 between the two communities.
“We have access among both the communities since we have been maintaining neutrality in the ongoing conflict. Drivers from our community are those ferrying essential commodities from one part of the state to other,” said Boby Korimayum, president of the Manipur Muslim Welfare Organisation.
Manipur Muslims
At about 8 per cent, Pangals are the fourth largest community in Manipur after the Meiteis, Nagas and Kukis. They live in and around the Imphal Valley.
The October 19 attack on two drivers from the community has created a trust deficit and instilled a sense of fear, Korimayum added.
The attack broke a violence-free spell the state had been witnessing for over a fortnight, raising hope about a return of normalcy.
Over 1,400 people have returned home in various villages in Bishnupur district after spending months in relief camps.
Slowly people are leaving relief camps, said a senior state government official involved with the rehabilitation exercise.
Among those who have returned home are 231 residents of Pombikhok, 98 of Chandonpokpi, 97 of Chairel Thoubaltabi, 89 of Leingangtabi, 280 of Mangjing, 101 of Khoijumantabi, 292 of Laingoubi and 137 of Khullakpat. All are from Bishnupur district bordering Churachandpur.
Curfew relaxation hours have also been extended from 5 am to 10 pm in Imphal.
