'This is leading to anarchy.'
Dr Sandeep Pandey, general secretary of the Socialist Party of India, has been trying to undertake some peace initiative with the help of both Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur with the help of civil groups. Dr Pandey is a recipient of the Magsaysay Award, which he returned to protest the Israeli military action in Gaza.
"The first thing they must do is remove Chief Minister Biren Singh and impose President's rule. Within six months of his dismissal we can have the Manipur assembly elections," Dr Pandey tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com in the concluding segment of a two-part interview.
Who benefits from the anarchy in Manipur?
The BJP's entire game was polarisation of the Meitei community in its favour. What they were not prepared for was the long term resistance from the Kuki community who are now better prepared as they are a tribal community with the tribal spirit in them to fight. The tribal spirit is never to surrender.
Nobody knows in which direction this violence will go now.
The second thing which the government was not prepared for was the fact that the Kukis are holding onto certain areas of Manipur like Churachandpur and Kangpokpi where they are not allowing the Meiteis to enter. They have put out banners in their areas stating, 'You have separated us so now give us separate administration'.
Why can't the CRPF or military take control of those areas?
They are working as part of a central command that Chief Minister Biren Singh used to head. After May 4, the command has been taken away from Biren Singh and given to a security adviser, Kuldiep Singh, who has to take a call on this issue.
Kuldiep Singh is a retired IPS (Indian Police Service) officer. Kuldiep is a bureaucrat. How can he take such a call because such a call needs to be taken by a politician? Home Minister Amit Shah or Prime Minister Narendra Modi must tell him what to do.
Take the Armed Forces Special Protection Act, it was withdrawn from 19 police stations and it is only two days ago that they brought AFSPA back in six police stations. Now the Manipur government wants to withdraw AFSPA because it is in Meitei dominated areas.
The government of Manipur wants AFSPA in Kuki and Naga areas but not in Meitei areas. This is leading to anarchy.
What about the BJP's Manipur unit?
In Manipur they have mobilised the Meiteis who are mostly Hindus in their belief systems, against the Kukis who are Christians in their beliefs.
They were not prepared for the long term resistance of the Kuki community against the Meiteis. The Kukis are demanding a separate administration.
Aren't there Meiteis who are Christians and Kukis who are Hindus too?
Kuki are all Christians. Even if they are not Christians then they follow their tribal religion.
Meiteis are mostly Hindus and a part of them believe in reviving their traditional religion which is Sanamahism. Some Meiteis have converted to Islam and they are called Pangals. But some Meiteis are Christians too.
How do the lives of common people go on in Manipur? Do children go to school? People go to offices, etc?
Life is going on except that the Meiteis cannot go to Kuki areas and the Kukis cannot go to Meitei areas.
Educational institutions have been affected more in Kuki areas than in Meitei areas. Meitei government employees cannot work in Kuki areas and vice versa.
Violence erupts in between, but that does not disrupt normal life.
When I last went to Manipur, two Meiteis were captured and held hostage by Kukis. These two hostages were later exchanged with 11 Kukis imprisoned in Imphal jail.
The present incidence of violence is unusual as curfew has been imposed in some districts. Before your interview, I got a call from a friend in Imphal who said the Internet has been shut down.
What about civil society groups?
They are all scared. Take Babloo Loitongbam, when he tried to hold a peace meeting in Bengaluru, militant groups from Manipur threatened him and told him not to hold such meetings.
Other Manipuri civil society members were trying to take the peace initiative in Assam, but that too was not successful. We are trying to take some peace initiative, but it's not very easy.
The Kuki community is welcoming us, but our Meitei colleagues are not confident of this peace initiative. They feel if the peace outcome effort from their side goes wrong, they will become the target of Meitei militant organisations.
What do Kukis get in return in this ongoing violence?
They are at the receiving end. The whole protest from their side started because of the high court judgment stating that Meiteis must be given schedule tribe status. This is what led to the start of violence as the Kukis took to protest. Now, they have to defend themselves for survival.
Who gives arms and ammunition to both groups?
Meiteis have looted the police and got arms and ammunition. Kukis on the other hand have traditional arms. And there is some truth that arms are being supplied from Myanmar which is a neighbouring country.
But then even in Myanmar there is a different kind of resistance going on against the government. Their government has no control over certain areas of their country. In Myanmar it is alleged that insurgent groups are getting arms from India.
What must the Government of India do?
The first thing they must do is remove Chief Minister Biren Singh and impose President's rule. After six months of his dismissal we can have the Manipur assembly elections.
