‘Safe return’ for IDPs call raised at Delhi

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Dec 14: A mass protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi today urged Government of India to immediately "ensure safe, dignified and unconditional return of all internally displaced persons (IDPs) from both Meitei and Kuki communities to return to their original homes."
A large number of people took part in the protest demonstration, organised by the Delhi Meetei Co-Ordinating Committee (DMCC), Manipur Students’ Association Delhi (MSAD), and United Kakching Students (UNIKAS).
Dr Seram Rojesh, convenor, DMCC; Dr Naorem Bobo, spokesperson, DMCC; Hijam Rajen, advisor, DMCC; Elizabeth, social and gender activist; Sangeeta, spokesperson, Women’s Wing, DMCC; Lanchenbi, president, MSAD; and Amrik Singh Pawal, Manipur Sikh and social activist took part in the protest demonstration.
After the mass protest demonstration, the organisations submitted a memorandum making three key demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The memorandum urged the Government of India to "immediately ensure safe, dignified, and unconditional return of all enforced internally displaced persons (IDPs) from both Meetei/Meitei and Kuki communities to their original homes, with full security, rehabilitation and restoration of livelihood".
"The Government of India must immediately terminate all State-sponsored armed militancy operating under the so-called Suspension of Operations (SoO) and dismantle this unconstitutional arrangement that perpetuates violence and ethnic division," said the memorandum.
Further, the Government of India must immediately end the "policy of divide and rule in Manipur, restore Constitutional governance, and ensure justice, unity, and lasting peace in the State," said the memorandum.
In the memorandum, the organisations noted that more than more than 65,000 "enforced" internally displaced persons (IDPs) from both Kuki and Meetei communities have been forcibly uprooted from their ancestral homes and confined to relief camps under unsafe, degrading, and dehumanising conditions since May 3, 2023.
Despite repeated public assurances, the Government of India has failed to ensure their safe and dignified return. The declared deadline of December 2025 is about to pass without any policy framework, financial support, or rehabilitation roadmap, said the organisations.
"This is not a case of administrative failure. It reflects a deliberate political strategy of ethnic segregation and divide and rule in Manipur," asserted the organisations.
In 75 years of India's independent history, the Indian Army or Central Security Forces have never facilitated systematic segregation or forced relocation of civilian populations anywhere in the country but in Manipur, alleged the organisations.
Riots have occurred in Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat. In fact, the Gujarat violence was brought under control immediately after the deployment of the Indian Army, they said.
"In sharp contrast in Manipur, Indian security forces-rather than protecting civilians- have actively overseen and enforced segregation, creating so-called buffer zones and enabling prolonged displacement. This unprecedented situation cannot exist without political engineering and sanction from the Government of India," alleged the organisations.
"Today, the people of Manipur are suffering not only under militarisation but under the active patronage of armed militant groups by the Indian State. The outsourcing of violence to State-protected armed actors operating under the Suspension of Operations has created a situation where civilians face insecurity not only from armed forces but also from State-enabled militancy. This dual system of repression has pushed the people of Manipur into a deep existential crisis, threatening their physical survival, social cohesion, and Constitutional belonging within the Indian Union," asserted the organisations.
Indian security forces are Constitutionally mandated to protect citizens, not divide them, and not to enforce artificial internal borders within a single State. The continued use of security forces as instruments of ethnic segregation fundamentally violates Constitutional principles, the organisations said.
The Supreme Court of India, in dismantling Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh, categorically ruled against the weaponization of civilians and proxy armed groups. The same Constitutional principle squarely applies to Manipur and demands immediate enforcement, they asserted.