“We need to bear some suffering to save our homes,” said N Biramohan Singh, one of 83 inmates who continue to reside at Borobekra relief camp in Manipur’s Jiribam district, a month after it came under attack, leaving eight of its Meitei inmates dead.
The relief camp, inside the premises of the Borobekra police station and next to a CRPF post, was, on November 11, the site of one of the most violent episodes in the ongoing conflict in Manipur. It came under attack by armed men identified by the police as Hmar militants, of whom 10 were gunned down by security forces stationed there. Two inmates of the relief camp were found dead nearby, while three women and three children were abducted and killed.
The relief camp is an island. Its inmates are residents of a small cluster of nearby Meitei villages, and it is the only such Meitei settlement in the Borobekra sub-division of the Jiribam district, which borders the Hmar-majority Pherzawl district. This cluster of villages is surrounded by Hmar and Bengali villages.
Despite their fears following the incident, over 80 residents continue to live there. When The Indian Express visited the relief camp days after the attack, the refrain among inmates was that they wanted to leave, but were unable to because the road to Jiribam had several Hmar villages on the way.
However, since then, around 25 inmates – most of them elderly, children, and those needing medical care – have been evacuated to Jiribam town, some by helicopter and some under security cover provided by the Assam Rifles.
The rest intend to stay put.
“We have been told that it is the government’s policy to build homes for us here once the situation normalises, and security will be tightened to keep us safe. The security forces are on duty day and night. Sick people and children who need to go to school have been evacuated. If we all leave, militants will completely dominate the area, and we will never be able to return,” Biramohan Singh said.
Asked if they had changed their minds about wanting safe passage out of the relief camp, another inmate, N Rojendro, said, “It’s not that we’ve changed our minds, but the government suggested we remain here and promised to take care of our needs and security. Along with 24×7 security, all essential commodities are coming regularly from the relevant authorities. Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh also visited us here last week. So we feel secure for now.”
During the course of the ongoing violence in Manipur, Meiteis have been pushed out of Kuki-Zo majority areas such as Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts and the Indo-Myanmar border town of Moreh, while Kuki-Zos have been pushed out from Imphal and the rest of the Meitei-majority valley.
When the violence spread to the mixed-population district of Jiribam in June this year, most Kuki and Hmar families fled from Jiribam town, while many Meiteis left the Borobekra area for Jiribam town. But there continue to be pockets close to Jiribam town where Kuki and Hmars live. These include Zairawn village, which came under attack by suspected Meitei gunmen in November, leaving a school teacher dead, and the Borobekra relief camp.
Earlier this week, the Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee, a group representing the Hmars of Jiribam and Pherzawl, demanded that the relief camp inmates be moved, pointing to the displacement of Kuki and Hmar tribals from Jiribam town and warning of “further escalation of violence.”
“The ITAC urges the Manipur government to relocate Meitei community people who have been housed within Jakuradhor Manipur police camp to Jiribam town to avoid further escalation of violence in Pherzawl and Jiribam district. The Kuki-Zomi-Hmar tribals living in Jiribam town were forcibly driven out of their homes by the AT (Arambai Tenggol) and valley-based proscribed Meitei terrorists. This was followed by the burning down of their houses and properties, including educational institutions and places of worship by the AT and Meitei terrorists, assisted by Manipur state forces and commandos,” it said in a statement.
An official with the district administration said the effort is to keep the relief camp inmates where they are.
“If the people are shifted out completely, there is a chance of it becoming completely occupied. Instead, the security has been increased so that no unwanted incidents can reoccur,” said the official.
According to a police officer in Jiribam, two additional companies of the CRPF are expected to be deployed in Borobekra, in addition to the existing two companies there and 47 personnel at the Borobekra police station.
A security official also said that reinforcements from the Army and Assam Rifles have been deployed across Jiribam, including in Borobekra, after the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was imposed in the district following the incident on November 11.
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