India’s home affairs minister, Amit Shah, has called opposition parties for talks on Saturday to discuss an outbreak of ethnic violence in Manipur state in the north-east, in a sign that the government has acknowledged the situation has spun out of its control.
More than 100 people have died and 50,000 have been displaced since clashes broke out in early May between members of the Kuki ethnic group, who mostly live in the hills, and the Meitei people, the dominant community in the lowlands. Churches, temples, shops and businesses have been destroyed.
It is uncommon for Narendra Modi’s government to consult the opposition.
“They’ve realised the water has gone above their heads,” said Neerja Chowdhary, a political analyst. “Manipur is close to lawlessness and the government has realised the situation cannot be allowed to fester. Nothing has worked. And it’s not just Manipur – the entire north-east of the country, a very volatile region, will be affected if things don’t improve.”
Congress, the main opposition party, has not yet decided whether it will attend the talks. Pawan Khera, a party spokesperson, said there had been a “lack of concern for Manipur at the highest levels” and described the situation in the state as “dire”.
Tensions in the state came to a head last month between the majority Meitei, who are mostly Hindus and live in and around the state capital, Imphal, and the mainly Christian Kuki tribe in the surrounding hills. The clashes were sparked by resentment among Kukis towards Meitei demands for access to economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education reserved for hill people.
The opposition has criticised Shah and Modi for not visiting the state sooner after the violence began on 3 May. Shah went to Manipur on 29 May where his proposal of a “peace panel” died in the water when both communities refused to participate.
The army and paramilitary forces have been struggling to quell the violence. The Kukis have declared they have no faith in the Meitei-dominated state government and have withdrawn to the hills around Imphal. Any Meiteis living in the hills have fled to Imphal, resulting in total segregation and a deepening of mistrust to the point where some observers say civil war is a possibility.
Last week, L Nishikanta Singh, a retired lieutenant general from Manipur, tweeted: “The state is now ‘stateless’. Life and property can be destroyed anytime by anyone just like in Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Syria etc.”
Modi’s total silence on the crisis has prompted criticism. Leaders from the state have been in Delhi since 10 June hoping for a meeting with Modi, but he left for a visit to the US on Tuesday without meeting them.
“We have not come here to beg something from the prime minister. What has happened in Manipur should be considered a national issue,” said the former Manipur chief minister Ibobi Singh, who was among the delegation that travelled to Delhi.
Posters have gone up in Manipur showing Modi’s face and the words: “Still missing. Have you seen this man? Status: blind and deaf.”
In New York on Thursday, Modi led a yoga session on the lawns of the UN headquarters to mark International Yoga Day, prompting the columnist V Sudarshan to remark: “No amount of prime ministerial yoga is going to fix Manipur and there doesn’t seem to be much else going on in response from Modi’s side.”
In a video message, the Congress party leader, Sonia Gandhi, lamented the fact that people had been forced to flee the only place they called home. “It takes tremendous trust and goodwill to nurture the spirit of brotherhood, and a single misstep to fan the flames of hate and divisiveness,” she said.
