Idea of home and peace shattered in Manipur, says activist Santa Khurai

Santa Khurai, a transgender activist, discusses the destruction of home and peace caused by communal strife in Manipur.

Santa Khurai has fought long and hard for the equal rights of the Manipuri transgender community, and is distressed by the communal strife in her home State. The violence in Manipur since last May has shattered the “comfort hub” in Imphal for both the plains and hills people, she says.

“The idea of home has been completely destroyed by the ongoing communal strife. The very idea of peace is poisoned, corrupted, and polluted by the tensions of the people,” she read from her recently published memoir, The Yellow Sparrow (Speaking Tiger), translated by Rubani Yumkhaibam, at a session, ‘Daring to be Different’, during the ongoing Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, 2024, in Kolkata.

Being a Nupi Maanbi (transgender) activist, Santa Khurai says her perspective on home, peace, and conflict comes from lifelong experiences, collective efforts, understanding, trust, and belongingness. “In our transgender society and culture these are the capitals that we have invested through solidarity, support, and networking,” all values that are under threat, she added. She is worried about those, particularly Kukis and other tribals, who have had to leave Imphal and return to their hometowns where being transgender will not be easy.

“We were a progressive society, but now we are into narrow divisive politics; we cannot claim Manipur only for Meiteis, it belongs to many ethnic communities,” she said. She pointed out that hers has been a lonely fight for justice for the community with many groups, moral police, militant groups, coming at her for pushing back against stereotypical thinking about gender conformity.

People in power, she said, are “throwing tantrums... under the garb of restoring peace. Hence, the victims and the innocent civilians of Manipur are left to deal with the situation alone”. She also spoke out against tokenism and a ticking-the-box approach while dealing with issues regarding the LGBTQIA+ community.