We don’t recognise legitimacy of buffer zones in Manipur: Meira Paibi leaders in Delhi

Meira Paibi leaders: buffer zones in Manipur "unconstitutional"; call for Indian Army to be replaced; allege "Kuki militants" infiltrated Assam Rifles, causing bias; allege excessive force used against protests; Kuki-Zo allege Meitei outfits infiltrated police.

Leaders of the Meira Paibi, a Meitei women’s collective in Manipur, on Tuesday said they do not recognise the legitimacy of buffer zones in the State, created by the Central and Manipur government. Such buffer zones are “unconstitutional”, said the women’s group that has often clashed with Central security forces during the last four months of ethnic conflict

The women leaders, who addressed a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday, also stepped up their opposition to the Indian Army’s Assam Rifles and other Central security forces currently posted in Manipur, calling for them to be replaced with other units. 

This comes a day after the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), one of the most influential Meitei civil society outfits in the State, issued a public statement alleging that the Indian Army had allegedly colluded with “Chin-Kuki Narco-Terrorist Groups” to invite and indirectly fund the fact-finding team of the Editors’ Guild of India. 

While the Indian Army is yet to respond to the allegations levelled by the COCOMI on September 12, Meira Paibi leaders in Delhi justified their continued opposition to Central security forces in the State. 

Lourembam Nganbi, 70, a Meira Paibi leader and president of the AMKIL (United Mothers to Protect Manipur), said, “If 60,000 security forces cannot keep the peace, the government should just pull everyone out.”

Sometime in early June, buffer zones started to be expanded along the foothills of Manipur, where most of the fighting was underway. The buffer zones were to be manned by Central security forces - separating the Kuki-Zo population in the hills from the Meitei community in the valley. 

This arrangement was agreed upon after consistent allegations from the Kuki-Zo community that the Meitei-heavy State police forces were complicit in the violence against them. Despite the buffer zones, however, violence has continued to rage in the foothills.