Silence of guns is not normalcy Fruits of blockade, shutdown
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The silence of the guns, the absence of smoke billowing out of burnt remains of houses, the relative quietness in the hills and the valley districts are welcome but one hopes and pray that Delhi does not start talking about peace having returned to Manipur. A line likely to be toed based on the reports furnished by Imphal. That the guns have gone silent is a truism but beneath the silence of the guns runs the growing voice of anger and disillusionment with what is happening at the ground. Four suspects, including a husband and wife duo have been identified and picked up for their alleged role in the abduction and later massacre of six Naga men. Other than this, no one knows anything of the follow up action that the Government has taken up to uncover the whole truth and try to unmask the hand behind the abduction and massacre of the six Naga men. The inter-district blockade announced by the United Naga Council in response to the total shutdown in Kuki areas imposed by the Kuki Inpi, Manipur from the evening of May 13 continues to this day. Kangpokpi is sandwiched between Senapati to the north and the Imphal valley to the south and given the present context, the Kuki folks cannot access supplies from either Imphal or from the National Highways, the goods trucks needing to cross Senapati district headquarters. As things have transpired, prices of essential items have skyrocketed and if what is being said on the social media is anything to go by, then a litre of petrol is being sold at Rs 250 while the price of a bag of rice has more than tripled. This is besides the other daily requirements, such as dal, vegetables, cooking oil, salt, sugar and medicines. And there is no indication that the UNC is ready to roll back the blockade, despite the proposal for dialogue put forward by the Kuki-Zo Council at Mizoram. Imphal can imagine the suffering of the common people, for the Meiteis have faced severe economic blockades in the past and one can easily recall the blockade imposed by the Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee before 2016. If fuel is in acute shortage in Kangpokpi, Imphal and the valley districts have already faced this situation many times in the past and the queues outside all fuel pumps in Imphal is something that must still be fresh in the minds of the Imphal. The difference however lies in the fact that in the present case, it was the Kuki Inpi, Manipur which first went ahead and imposed the total shutdown in all Kuki areas on May 13 evening, on the assumption that the NSCN (IM) and the Kamson group of the ZUF were behind the assassination of three Thadou Church leaders in the morning of the said date. The inter-district blockade came in response to the shutdown. Take the massacre of the six Naga men into consideration and one will understand the factors that have come together to understand the present suffering of the people of Kangpokpi.
As with any blockade or bandh or general strike, it is not leaders of organisations like CoTU, KIM or Kuki-ZO Council who will suffer but the common people and this is where questions ought to be raised on whether the elements who killed the six Naga men in captivity and those who imposed the total shutdown earlier, did so keeping in mind the interests of the Kuki people. The answer can be seen in bold on the Rs 250 or more people have to pay for a litre of petrol right now and in the extreme shortage of daily essentials. The tragedy is none of these organisations seem to have understood the reality. The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights (KOHUR) may go on the offensive against the State Government for failing to clear the UNC sponsored blockade, but it should also remember that the same Government and Delhi have failed to open the Imphal-Dimapur road to everyone since the evening of May 3, 2023. A reality which has been there for over three years and Manipur certainly remembers how the free movement call of Amit Shah from March 8 of 2025 was beaten back by the Kuki people on the highway. Blocking a lifeline definitely violates human rights, but then so is bludgeoning civilians in custody to death. This should not be forgotten by an organisation which portrays itself as a rights group.
As with any blockade or bandh or general strike, it is not leaders of organisations like CoTU, KIM or Kuki-ZO Council who will suffer but the common people and this is where questions ought to be raised on whether the elements who killed the six Naga men in captivity and those who imposed the total shutdown earlier, did so keeping in mind the interests of the Kuki people. The answer can be seen in bold on the Rs 250 or more people have to pay for a litre of petrol right now and in the extreme shortage of daily essentials. The tragedy is none of these organisations seem to have understood the reality. The Kuki Organisation for Human Rights (KOHUR) may go on the offensive against the State Government for failing to clear the UNC sponsored blockade, but it should also remember that the same Government and Delhi have failed to open the Imphal-Dimapur road to everyone since the evening of May 3, 2023. A reality which has been there for over three years and Manipur certainly remembers how the free movement call of Amit Shah from March 8 of 2025 was beaten back by the Kuki people on the highway. Blocking a lifeline definitely violates human rights, but then so is bludgeoning civilians in custody to death. This should not be forgotten by an organisation which portrays itself as a rights group.