"If the Assam Rifles were not there…": A Kuki student of Manipur University who escaped from the jaws of death

On the 3rd of May 2024, there were observations in all the Kuki inhabited areas including churches, cities, and towns in different states of India, and even abroad, to pay tribute to the departed souls as the ongoing state-sponsored ethnic cleansing campaign carried out by the dominant community since the 3rd of May 2023 completed a year.

In a similar case, the Meiteis also observed the day under different themes in various parts of Manipur and the National Capital. One such program was organised at Manipur University (MU) supposedly to mourn the deaths and destruction during the last one year.

As video footage and images of the candlelight vigil in MU began circulating, it reminded us of how the Kuki-Zo students and staff and their families escaped from the jaws of death on that fateful evening. Though 366 days have passed, it still feels like yesterday as the trauma continues to haunt us.

To go back a little bit in time, 3rd May 2023 will remain as a black day in the history of Manipur as it was on that fateful day that a well-orchestrated riot to cleanse all the Kuki-Zo inhabitants of Imphal and its surrounding areas began. This ethnic cleansing campaign ultimately resulted into an unprecedented chain of events leading to the death of 185 precious Kuki-Zo lives including women and children, and the destruction of more than 200 villages and 360 churches. Apart from this, many have died in relief camps due to a shortage of medical facilities, and many more are waiting for their ultimate end helplessly.

On this fateful evening, as mob violence broke out in Torbung, a border area between Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts in the afternoon, students and families of MU began to feel apprehensive about what may happen in the state. Yet, we were hopeful that the University Authority and the state government would do everything in their hands to control the situation as done the past. However, in total contrast to what we had anticipated, things turned to the worst in a few hours.

In Imphal, mobilisation of an unruly mob began around 7:00pm in Soibam Leikai, Imphal East, to attack Checkon, a Kuki-Zo-dominated colony, just a kilometre away from the Chief Minister bungalow. After burning a couple of houses, the mob was somehow dispersed by the police and Central Forces on duty.

Almost at the same time, there was a mobilisation of similar mobs at the main Gate of MU. In a video that went viral, a man is seen calling for more people as they were about to enter the University campus to haunt the "Kukis". "Manipur University da Kuki thiba houdoure" (We will begin hunting Kukis inside Manipur University) was what an unknown miscreant said in the video in Manipuri.

Till this time, I, along with some of my friends, were still in the University Library busy with our studies. Though we could no longer concentrate, we were hopeful that the University Authority would call in enough security to protect the campus. Our assumption was that MU being a Central University will be protected under any circumstances, and it will be safe from any unruly mob trying to storm the Campus.

At about 7:30pm, the University Library staff came and told us to leave the Library as the situation outside was increasingly tense. So we leave the Library and move towards our respective Hostels.

At about 8:30pm, we got the information that a group of men armed with sticks and knives attacked the residential quarter of one of the University Officers belonging to the Kuki-Zo community. Soon, we also get the information that four Kuki boys were taken away, and their mobile phones remained switched off.

So, we were in a dilemma whether to look for them or think of escaping for safety. (Late in the night, we found out that they had been locked-up in a room in one of the Men’s Hostels and were later released by their own Meitei friends).

As we remained totally confused, the mobs forced open the Main Gate at around 9:00pm and began attacking the Hostels one after another looking for "Kuki" students. What is interesting to note here is that the mobs, many of whom were armed with knives, sticks, and other weapons, came with a list of Hostellers presumably for easy identification of the inmates.

When an unruly mob of 50-60 men, many of whom were in an inebriated condition, stormed into our Hostel, we were helpless but had to escape through the backdoor and hide in the drain. Whereas some hid behind the bushes, some remained in the hostel rooms occupied by their friends belonging to other communities.

After storming the Boys Hostels, the mob enters Ladies' the Ladies Hostels as well. In MU, boys are usually not allowed to enter the Ladies Hostels. But on that fateful night, the mobs, mostly men, did not care about these long practices in the thirst for "Kuki" blood. Some of the Kuki-Zo girls had to hide in the Toilet for hours till the mob left.

Meanwhile, the Assam Rifles personnel posted in MU began rescuing the "Kukis" who were hiding in different locations within the University campus. For us, it was at around 11:30pm, after waiting for more than two hours behind the drain, that two Assam Rifles trucks came to our rescue. But for many, they had to wait till 3:00am under inclement weather with mosquitoes and flies hovering around looking for its prey.

Indeed a team of police arrived past midnight, but it was too little too late. The excuse was that they were busy as the whole Imphal city was under seized by thousands of mobs.

In the early morning, the Assam Rifles arranged a few more trucks and deposited the 260+ strong Kuki-Zo people of MU, along with several others who were staying in rented accommodations and private hostels around the University, at 1st Manipur Rifles (1MR).

MU has a long history of protest against the deployment of this Paramilitary Force inside the campus, but if it were not for these central forces, the fate of many of the Kuki-Zo people would have been decided on that day. Anyway, the minority tribals were never in favour of the demand to remove the Assam Rifles since we feel that the Central Forces are our last hope in a situation like this.

It may be recalled that when the radicalised section of the Meiteis began the pre-planned riots with the help of the state machinery including the police, the Kuki-Zo people in Imphal were caught absolutely unaware. Within 48 hours, about 60 people were killed mostly in mob lynching, and hundreds of houses including many of the Churches belonging to the Kuki-Zo communities were burnt. There were also multiple reports of sexual atrocities including gangrape, naked parading, rape and murder, and whatnot.

In Imphal, the highly charged Meitei mobs led by radicalised groups such as Arambai Tenggols, Meitei Leepuns, Kangleipak Kanba Lup, BJYM leaders, etc. In the process, thousands of innocent Meitei mobs were charged with fake news about the rape and murder of Meitei girls in Churachandpur which were purposefully spread by a few radical elements, such as those two individuals who go by the Facebook account Edison Moirangthem and Luwang Meitei, the later became part of the short-lived Youths of Manipur. These people deserve to be behind bars, if law order exists even in its minimal form, for spreading such serious fake news which eventually resulted in the rape and murder of many Kuki girls in Imphal. But, interestingly they continue to roam freely. And Edison has yet to even delete his video!

Despite multiple companies of central forces being flown in since 4th May 2023, the communal State government headed by N. Biren Singh, who also holds the Home portfolio, dispatched them to those vulnerable areas where the Meiteis will be the benefited lots instead of using them to protect the minority communities in Imphal.

Today, as that fateful night completes one year, we remain indebted to all our friends, irrespective of the communities they belong to, particularly the Assam Rifles, for the yeoman service rendered at the risk of their own lives, for helping us escape from the jaws of death.

However, the manner in which the University Authority handled the situation, and the claimed by the Dean of Students’ Welfare Prof. M Premjit Singh, Registrar Prof W. Chandbabu Singh, and others that there was no violent or unfortunate incident inside the University Campus will remain unfortunate and unforgettable.

By: Anthony Shongthu

(Courtesy: KSO Bulletin, Thingkho le Malcha, Issue No. 227, 4 May 2024).