Despite Manipur government’s claims, bunkers continue to function in both hills and valley

Two weeks after the Manipur government’s deadline to remove all bunkers across the State, in both the Kuki-dominated hills and Meitei-dominated valley, The Hindu found that though many bunkers were destroyed in the buffer zones, many others exist and remain functional in both regions.

Two weeks after the Manipur government’s deadline to remove all bunkers across the State, in both the Kuki-dominated hills and Meitei-dominated valley, The Hindu found that though many bunkers were destroyed in the buffer zones, many others exist and remain functional in both regions.

On the road from Imphal towards Churachandpur, lies the Meitei-dominated district of Bishnupur. Almost 100 metres away from the main road, a 17-year old Meitei volunteer guards a bunker, a tin-and-bamboo structure, with a hunting gun. Under his leadership are two more adolescent boys, all carrying firearms. They are standing there to protect their village from the Kukis, they say. 

The makeshift bunker was put up by village volunteers in early June, said the teenaged leader. “We take turns to guard our village against any kind of attack from the Kuki side — firing or mortars — and fire only after they do,” he told The Hindu. Apart from using his gun to defend his village, the young guard also carries it at all times while checking vehicles going down the road, “to check if there are any Kuki militants or if the people present are carrying large amounts of food supply to Churachandpur”. He says there are many such bunkers across the district, manned by volunteers protecting their own villages. 

Almost 50 kilometers away, in a Kuki-dominated village in Churachandpur district, a 40-year-old village chief stands in a brick-and-mortar residential house-turned-bunker. He says the bunker has great importance in his efforts to protect his village. “The Meiteis have access to the State armoury, and their militants are often dressed as Manipur police, and try entering our villages,” says the village chief.

To stop any unwanted movement, and defend the village against attacks from the Meitei side, the villagers believe that it is imperative for their guards to remain in the bunkers. “The villagers feel safer knowing that they have their community folks in the front line,” the chief added. 

With the Meiteis having more access to sophisticated weapons looted from State-run police camps, another Kuki guard said that he felt ill-equipped to defend his village against attacks from the valley.