[May-August 2023] Revolt in Manipur, India
Compilation of different articles published on some maoist website, which has done compilations and summaries of press articles on the ongoing struggle in Manipur (a northeast state of India) since the beginning of the month of May 2023. The first article contains a detailed summary of the context around the revolt a few months after it began, while the following are presented in the chronological order of the events.
India: on the current struggle in Manipur – July 2, 2023
The 3rd of May started many clashes in the State of Manipur, which are still going strong nowadays. We have reported on that. This day, the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) conveyed a mobilization in protest for the inclusion of the Meitei in the list of Scheduled Tribes, what make Meiteis able to legally expel the peasantry of their lands.
Currently, the death toll is 138 people killed, and since now, there are around 60.000 peasants expelled, most of them from The Hills area, of the Kuki tribal group. But the struggle started pretty much before. In February, there were new expels of peasants by the State of Manipur in the district of Churachandpur, and after that, in the month of March there were mobilizations, repressed with violence by the Indian police. Also there was a general strike in the month of April, conveyed by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), at the same time of a visit of Prime Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh. After that, started the first riots. The big landlords class and the bureaucratic capitalist class class want to expel the peasants for continuing the concentration of lands, and also because the oil, gas and other minerals in the area.
Regarding the sides involved in the struggle, mainly are two:
On the one hand, there is the bureaucratic capitalist class and the big landlords, interested in take of the lands of the peasantry. They belong to the tribe Meitei and they are mainly Hindu. They have the resources of the Indian State, and they always ruled the State of Manipur, no matter with which political party, and for this, they are able to make big deployments of police forces in order to expel the peasants from their lands, as happened in the 20th of February in one of the facts who triggered the current revolts. They are mainly located in the fertile valleys of Imphal, the capital. Currently, the interests of the dominant classes are represented by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Manipur. Besides the State repressive forces, these dominant classes also have made their own militias and groups of thugs, and they are using these ones as a head of spear against the peasantry which want to expel from their lands.
On the other hand,there is the peasantry, who is defending itself against the attempts of expel and the aggression of the bourgeoisie and the big landlords. The peasantry is mainly gathered in two tribal groups, the Kuki and the Naga, and they are mainly Christians. They live mainly in the hills. They have their own unitary organizations as ATSUM or ITLF, but, at the same time, they have their own regional peasant organizations. In the case of Kuki, they recently suffered many grievances and attacks by the bourgeoisie and the big landlords belonging to the Meitei group, and the government of Manipur: they criminalized the Kukis, stating this group are illegal immigrants from Myanmar, and due to this, their settlements in many of their lands are illegal; also they stated that the Kuki are not obeying the environmental protection rules because they live in protected and reserved forests, and should be expelled from them; even they accuse the Kuki of being drug-dealers or “narco-terrorists” due to the fact that the peasantry of this region plant poppies in the hills. All of these are reasons for the ruler classes to expel in a “justified” or legal way this peasantry from their lands.
For all of these years, the Indian State has firmly defensed the interests of the bureaucratic capitalist class and the big landlords of the region. The Indian State has S) has multiplied for ten its members during the last years and there are other militias of the local reaction gathered under the Meitei tribe, that are beinge, the paramilitary organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has multiplied for ten its members during the last years and there are other militias of the local reaction gathered under the Meitei tribe, that are being financed and protected.
Regarding the security force of the Indian State, there is information about that they are letting act these militias, even when they are looting gun-shops, police stations, etc. Also has been denounced by some witnesses that some members of Assam Rifles [Author’s note: troops of the Ministry of Interior] would be actively participating in attacks against peasantry.
Regarding the Indian State, has shown its incapacity to deal with rebellion of peasant masses and its resistance in Manipur. Has been unable to recover the stability in the area, despite a large military, paramilitary and police deployments (until 40.000 troops deployed by the Indian State and the authorities of Manipur). Despite all its efforts, Indian State has seen how its anti-popular policies has triggered a revolt of peasantry, and this has showed in a explicit way the weakness of the bureaucratic capitalism and of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal State itself, that is being overcome by a revolt in a peripheral State. This has sharpened multiple contradictions inside the Indian bureaucratic capitalist class and inside the representative parties of this one, as the BJP.
In these months the struggle of the masses has shown that it has a great potential. The blockades at the roads has shown being effective and provoking deep crisis of supplies. There have been carried out multiple actions against representatives of the Indian State and of the BJP and the curfews has been constantly challenged with spontaneous mobilizations. Even some military convoys has been blocked by the masses of the countryside.
We can see a main contradiction in this struggle, and is the contradiction between peasantry and feudality. The mass media are explaining this struggle as a simple tribal or religious conflict, and the State states that all the situation is returning to normalcy, and the riots has being made by troublemakers. But all of this is unmask the reality because the key of these facts is the struggle for the land, the contradiction between peasantry and bureaucratic capitalist class and big landlords. The peasant masses are struggling and resisting the attacks from the Indian State and the ruling classes, and they are confronting directly with them.
Manipur Revolts – May 8, 2023
On March 3rd there began a new stage of revolts in Manipur, after being known that the Meitei tribal group would be recognized as scheduled tribe in India. The Meitei are the majority of the population in the state of Manipur. The Indian State characterize the population according to the tribal groups, and thus establish limits for access to jobs, buying and selling of properties, and owning business. But the main point of the conflict in Manipur, is the eviction of the peasants from their own lands in order to concentrate this in a few hands of big landlords and big mining companies. On the other hand, local media often analyzes that main problem is between tribal groups or religions. The thing with the Meitei group is that local bosses who identify with this tribal group, will have economical privileges, and for example, will can acquire easily lands from the peasantry that are scheduled as Kuki or Naga, something that earlier was forbidden.
Then, the 3rd of March there was a big mobilization in Manipur. This mobilization was called for by a student organization, the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur [ATSUM]. Besides this one, also the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum [ITLF] call for bandh in order to make sure that lot of people attend the mobilization. The ITLF is an organization that serves to gather all the representatives of the minority tribes of Manipur, and same is the case with the ATSUM, that gather students from these tribes.
Then, the police and the Army were overwhelmed and established a curfew on the 4th of April, suspended the access to Internet and also deployed much more troops, anti-riots police, etc. After this, the Indian State also gave a clear directive to their repressive troops: shoot-at-sight when they detect a demonstrator. This is tightly linked with the militarization of the streets in Manipur. The updated numbers of troops in the region are: “Near of 10,000 soldiers of the Army and Assam Rifles [a paramilitary force controlled by the central government, with the task of counter-insurgency and controlling the borders of northeast India] have been deployed in the state.”. On the other hand, the Indian Army have been stating since days ago that the situation in Manipur is under control.
The revolts have exploded during this week, but the conflict was intensifying since long time ago. Since March there has been several clashes in the area, led by indigenous organizations. Also this ITLF called for a bandh on Friday 24th of April, and stated that “they would continue non-cooperation against the government until it nullifies the 1966 government order that declared tribal areas as protected/reserved forests”. This government order allow the eviction of the peasantry of many areas declared as protected, something that big mining companies and big landlords asked for and used to take these lands later.
During today there has been reports of back to normalcy in Imphal (Manipur’s capital). The official numbers just admit 30 dead people. However, local media reports an updated death toll: 55 dead people until today.
India: the struggle continues in Manipur – May 15, 2023
The conflict continues in Manipur, even with gunfights. After the state of emergency, the curfews and the militarization of the federal state of Manipur, the Indian Armed Forces claim that the situation was controlled at Friday 5th May. We already published an article about the origin of the conflict and its beginnings.
But, after this statements, the people of Manipur continues struggling against the Indian State, against its police, troops and paramilitary, as the Assam Rifles [Author’s note: paramilitary organization to control the borders of Northeast India, and also for do tasks of counterinsurgency]. The Wednesday 10th May, unidentified people opened fire against Assam Rifles personnel, being injured one soldier. On the other hand, the Thursday 11th May, happened a more serious incident: a police officer of Manipur was killed, and another two were injured in a gunfight, on Bishnupur district, on the South of Manipur. The facts happened as follows: “According to the sources, the commandos were there around 8.30 am Thursday, to follow up on inputs received about the movement of some insurgents in the area. It has not yet been ascertained which group is behind the incident, but sources said the police commando succumbed to injuries caused by an “AK-47 bullet”.”. Regarding the same fact, the Security Advisor of the state of Manipur, states the Friday 12th May, that the number of injured commandos was six.
Also, local media report about a block on the roads that stopped a big convoy: “Meanwhile, around 180 Imphal-bound goods-laden trucks were forced to return from Kangpokpi district towards Senapati district after a large number of people blocked the Kangpokpi stretch of National Highway-2. Kangpokpi, about 43 km away from Manipur’s capital Imphal, is a Kuki-dominated district. The irate mobs at Kangpokpi town also burnt down a car along the highway, an official report said. Following the blockade, the convoy of trucks retreated to Senapati district (Naga-dominated district).”
Besides this, other incidents have happened on Friday: a soldier of Assam Rifles was injured when was trying to diffuse an Improvised Explosive Device [IED], on the Saiton village, Bishnupur district. Meanwhile, the Indian Armed Forces announced the deployment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [UAV’s] and helicopters in order to have a bigger control of the area.
Despite all of these facts, the Security Advisor of Manipur, Kuldeep Singh claimed Friday that the death toll was 71 dead people in Manipur, but the situation would be improve a lot after the curfew and the State intervention.
India: situation in Manipur overwhelmed the government – May 22, 2023
The conflict continues in Manipur three weeks after the beginning of the revolt after the student’s demonstration of 3rd May. Wednesday 17th May, official sources of police said the situation has improved. However the same day was reported the death of one jawan [Author’s note: police officer] who was injured in a previous ambush, with the official death toll went up to 74 dead people. We have already written about this ambush and another similar facts. In this article we already quoted police and military declarations claiming the situation was controlled since the first week of the revolts.
On Thursday 18th May , according to local media, a patrol of military troops found a considerable amount of explosives in one of their expeditions through delicate areas of the federal state of Manipur. Local media describes the amount: “Three kilograms of TNT, 15 electric detonators, four circuits, and remote firing devices have also been found”. Besides these materials, according to sources of Manipur would be more than 1.000 weapons and 10.000 bullets looted from several police and military facilities. Would been recovered less than a half of these weapons by the government.
On the other hand, the situation also would be critical for the entrance of some materials in Manipur, due to the blockades in highways initiated few weeks ago in the via, NH37, which is fundamental for the transit in the federal state. This blockades are still active and worrying the authorities of the Indian State and of federal state of Manipur. The State is trying to coordinate police, paramilitary and military forces to break this blockade, establishing surveillance for the convoys that are going inside Manipur. Regarding the effects of this blockade in the essential goods, local media explains that “the state of essential supplies began to dwindle and reach critical levels”.
After this fact, Indian State began a new plan of action in Manipur: “The army has listed out a four-point plan to ensure peace in Manipur. This includes day and night area domination, surveillance over designated ash-points, engagement with civil society organizations of all communities across Manipur and deployment of quad-copters, tracker dogs and UAVs [Author’s note: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/drones].”. Besides the military measures, the ban for access to internet has been protracted two times: the first of them was since the 17th May until 22th May. State home department said that the first extension of the ban was needed “based on reports of continued incidents like fighting amongst volunteers/youths of major communities residing in the state’’. The second time that the ban is being protracted is since 22th May until 26th May. This extension of the ban is due to “reports of arson and attacks”.
With these measures, the government is trying to fix the situation in Manipur, and official sources states the following: “Our aim at the moment is to make the situation such that there are no reports of incidents or rumors generally”. Not just the government of Indian State it’s reinforcing its presence and surveillance in Manipur. Also the bureaucratic bourgeoisie belonging to the Meitei group, asked on the 20th May for a immediate intervention in the conflict in Manipur from Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, with “to use whatever means and resources at his disposal”.
India: Increase of the resistance, the State perpetrates a massacre in Manipur – May 29, 2023
Wednesday 24th May have been reported new clashes in Manipur, and the authorities have decided to reestablish all the curfew measures in the East Imphal, West Imphal and Bishnupur districts. At the same day one dead, two injured and presence of armed groups in several villages of Bishnupur district have been accounted. Also more torched houses have been reported. Meanwhile, the central government of the Indian State claims the situation is “returning to normal”. Despite this, during the week local media reports on more cases of shootings, therefore the Indian State has increased the police, military and paramilitary deployment in at least 38 places of the federal state of Manipur. At the same time, the authorities of Manipur keep on claiming that the number of dead people is around 60. But other sources, hospitals and media, are counting at least 74 dead people, according to the data of 17th May. We have already written about this uncontrolled situation in Manipur.
On the other hand, journalist associations denounce that the troops of Indian State are trying to silence those who are reporting about the riots in Manipur. For example, Monday 22th May, soldiers beat three journalists, Soram Inaoba, Nongthombam Johson and Brahmacharimayum Dayananda, who wanted to report about a new torching in the federal state. Regarding the repressive actions of the State, this is not an isolated fact: local media also reports that on Thursday 25th May, three paramilitary personnel of Rapid Action Force [RAF] set a meat shop on fire in Imphal, capital of Manipur.
Despite the increasing repression in Manipur, the people continue protesting actively against the actions of the government of federal state of Manipur and of the Indian State. Wednesday 24th May, the masses attacked the house of the Minister of Youth and Sports of the Federal state of Manipur, Konthoujam Govindas. Local media describes the action: “However, the minister and his family members were not present at the house when around 100 agitated people, mostly women, ransacked the house in Ningthoukhong Bazar area of Bishnupur district and damaged the gate, windows, a few furniture, electronic gadgets and vehicles parked at his residence.”
Another similar action was attempted to carry out on the Friday 26th against the house of the Minister of External Affairs and Education of the federal state of Manipur, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, in the capital, Imphal. Thousands of people ignored the curfew and gathered in front of the house of the Minister in order to protest for the bad situation in Manipur. After these incidents, the minister has escaped from Manipur, traveling to New Delhi.
Regarding the control over the highways, the 15th May the reestablishment of the control in the highways and roads in Manipur was announced by the State. Despite this, during this week, it was reported that the blockades are still active and there is an uncontrolled increase of prices due to the low reserves and lack of import of them from outside of the federal state. Some basic products would cost the double of that before of the beginning of the conflict.
The Indian State is carrying on a brutal answer against all of these problems: since Saturday 27th May it is launching military operations dedicated to “check sporadic violence”. These operations have resulted in a big massacre of activists of the region: media reports about 33 people murdered by the troops and paramilitaries. Local sources add the following: “Sources said the number of casualties could be more as the combing operation was still on, particularly in the hill districts such as Kangpokpi, Churachandpur and Bishnupur, inhabited mostly by the Kukis.”
India: more clashes in Manipur – June 8, 2023
The struggles in Manipur is as intensive as the past weeks. The death toll of the clashes, reached 98 dead and 310 injured people on Friday 2nd of June. Saturday 3rd of June, Kuldiep Singh, security advisor of the government of the federal State of Manipur, claimed that: “Peace is returning to the State and normalcy is being restored. There has not been an incident of firing and arson in Manipur in the last 24 hours.” However, on the next day, militants belonging to armed groups struggling against the State, would burn around a hundred of houses, including the house of a member of the federal congress of Manipur. On the same day, Home Minister, Amit Shah, insisted in demanding that the groups who are blocking the NH2 Highway end the blockade. The highway is very important for the communications between the Indian State and Manipur.
Three gunfights have been reported in Manipur: the 5th of June there was a gunfight between armed groups of the Kangchup area, in the West Imphal district, resulting in three dead and four injured people. The 6th of June there was an attack against the military and police force of the Indian State, with one BSF soldier killed [Border Security Forces] and two members of the paramilitary group, the Assam Rifles, injured. At the same time there was another gunfight, but this time without casualties for any side. Meanwhile, the government decided to protract the ban for access to Internet until 10th of June. The ban has been ongoing since 4th of May and has been extended multiple times.
India: New Casualties of the Indian State in Manipur – June 23, 2023
There are also reports of numerous actions and new casualties of the Indian State in Manipur. We have reported on this struggle before. In Manipur, there were several simultaneous gunfights on the 20th of June, made with automatic weapons. After these gunfights, other arson and several incidents during the week, the Internet ban was extended until 25th of June. The ban has been ongoing since 4th of May and has been extended multiple times.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, 21st of June, there was an explosion of an IED in the district of Bishnupur, with two injured policemen. There was another action on the early morning of Thursday, 22nd of June: there was a gunfight in the Imphal West district, and another two policemen were reported injured. This action against the police, was carried out with one rifle and a machine gun INSAS, Indian weapons looted in the previous weeks. Then, during yesterday there were reportedly marches and gunshots of armed groups in the districts of Imphal East and Kangpokpi. The Indian Army have been mobilized and sent to these places.
Manipur: Struggle of the People against Indian State keeps intensifying – July 27, 2023
The struggle of the people continues in Manipur. During the last weeks the people of Manipur has intensified the number of actions, and specially their intensity. We have reported on this struggle before. There are actions of the masses in many different districts, what shows that it is not a problem in isolated areas of Manipur, but a general intensification of the struggle in the whole State.
On Monday, 17th of July, in the district of Imphal West, a crowd of people attacked the convoy of a General Inspector of the Police, setting his car ablaze. Hence, an intervention of a group of anti-riot police to disperse the people with tear gas was needed. After the first investigations, dozens of alleged “people involved” in the incident were detained. Due to these detentions, hundreds of women took the streets on Saturday, 22nd of July, and blocked a highway in the same district with barricades of burning tires, demanding the release of the detainees.
On Thursday, 20th of July, a video appeared on social media showing several woman of The Hills being harassed and went viral. Later it became known that one of the woman was also raped. This video was recorded in May, after the beginning of the rebellion in Manipur. After the crime became public, the anger of the masses ran out of controll. The Indian State and the State of Manipur called to calm down and promised immediate measures, and the police investigated several accused people. But it is clear that the people don’t trust anymore in the State, even less do the women, which decided to execute justice by themselves. One day before the appearance of the video, a large group of women burned down the house of one of the rapists. The next day, it was known that another rapist was free, and another group of women attacked his home and set it ablaze.
On the night of the Saturday, 22nd to the 23rd of July, there was a fierce military clash in Torbung, district of Bishnupur. The battle involved rebel guerrillas on one side, and different forces of the Indian State on the other. Specifically the Indian State sent many reinforcements: Assam Rifles (troops of the Ministry of Interior), State police, Border Security Forces (BSF) and common troops of the Indian Army. The guerrillas used many kinds of armament against the repressive forces and even destroyed a heavy armored vehicle of the Assam Rifles. The guerrillas used explosives, mortars, RPGs, shotguns, etc.
Between the 25th and the 26th of July there were new incidents in several districts. On Tuesday 25th masses of Manipur attacked again the Indian State, burning buses used by the BSF to transport troops in the district of Kangpokpi. On Wednesday 26th, masses started riots, burning abandoned houses and shops in the town of Moreh, district of Tengnoupal, and after this they engaged in a shoot-out with soldiers of the Assam Rifles.
While the situation is developing in Manipur, it is becoming more uncontrollable for the Indian State, which despite the huge number of troops deployed and resources used, is unable to stop the attacks of the people. It is clear that masses have decided to apply their own justice, but also attack directly the State and its troops.
Manipur: The Indian State is still Unable to Control the Masses – August 8, 2023
In the last week the Indian State had serious problems in Manipur. The State have been stating since long time ago that the situation is under control, but there has constantly appeared news of new armed clashes and protests of the masses. We have previously reported on this.
On Saturday the 5th of August three people were killed in Bishnupur district. After the murder there was a large demonstration of women demanding the end of the violence. Following the assassination it was reported that paramilitaries, pro-Government militias and State troops were missing. On the same day in West Imphal, two policemen were killed, several checkpoints of the repressive forces were attacked, and the government’s stockpiles of arms and ammunition were looted. The government of Manipur and the Indian State reacted with large repression, attacking with riot police and firing tear gas against a peaceful funeral of several Kuki peasants. More than 25 people were injured in this attack.
Also on Saturday 5th of August following the attacks in Bishnupur and West Imphal, there was a big clash in Bishnupur between groups armed with mortars, grenades and various guns. After the clashes, a total of six people were killed and 16 wounded. It was reported that armed forces abandoned several barracks near this place, and there were more patrols and shootings carried out by armed groups in other districts of Manipur.
There were also a lot of protests in several parts of Manipur this weekend: on Saturday 5th of August a general strike was called in the Imphal Valley, causing the closure of the vast majority of establishments, shops and businesses; blockings of roads and paths were also reported in the area by those who supported the strike, with burning tires and other forms of blockade. On the other hand, on Sunday 6th of August a crowd of people burned 15 houses and shot one person, and the people were dispersed later by the riot police. This also shows what the Indian State can do nowadays in Manipur: it can somehow react to the events, but it cannot prevent the action of the masses, nor can it solve the problems and establish order.
Faced with this total loss of control, the Indian State has decided to act in the only way it knows: by increasing its repressive efforts. It has decided to send more troops to Manipur, a total of ten other companies of border troops, paramilitary and police. The authorities of Manipur maintain the curfew in Imphal East and Imphal West, after having planned a possible reduction in security measures in these areas.