Hundreds of people from Kuki-Zo communities of Manipur gathered at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on August 1. This included several people who flee Manipur since the clashes began in May this year. Watch this video to know what those displaced have to say and what their demands are. Rishika Kashyap reports.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 When we see a problem in Gujarat, anywhere,
00:05 no violence lasted that long.
00:07 So we've been asking this question, why, why, why?
00:11 Our bodies were lynched.
00:12 Our bodies were butchered.
00:14 Our women were paraded naked.
00:16 [INAUDIBLE]
00:17 And we seek justice for the innocent victims.
00:21 I have to be separated from my family.
00:25 And I miss them so much as I talk about them now.
00:27 That you did not parade an ordinary cookie-sough woman,
00:31 but you paraded the pride of India.
00:33 By doing so, you paraded your own mother, your own sister,
00:37 your own daughter as naked on the streets of Manipur, which
00:40 is very, very wrong, and I condemn it.
00:42 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:48 Today, I'm at a very popular place
00:50 of protest in Bengaluru, which is a freedom park.
00:53 A lot of people have gathered here
00:54 in protest against the Manipur violence, which
00:56 has been going on for months.
00:57 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
01:04 But when we thought of packing our bags,
01:05 we didn't think, oh, you have to pack your bags
01:07 and come to Bangalore and settle here again.
01:08 No.
01:09 Why are we here?
01:10 Freedom for us!
01:12 Why are we here?
01:13 Freedom for us!
01:15 Why are we here?
01:17 Freedom for us!
01:19 Why are we here?
01:21 The protest was called by members of the cookie-soumy
01:24 communities in Bengaluru, who gathered in solidarity
01:27 with the victims of violence, mostly women of their tribes
01:30 back in their home state.
01:31 We want--
01:32 --freedom for us!
01:35 We want--
01:36 --freedom for us!
01:37 Lamlening Haukip was born and raised
01:40 in Imphal, the capital city of Manipur.
01:42 But she came to Bengaluru a month ago in search of a job
01:45 to support her family stranded in Manipur.
01:47 She belongs to the cookie-soumy community.
01:50 The night of 3rd May, when clashes began in Manipur,
01:53 was like any other night until she and her family
01:55 found themselves running for their lives.
01:57 Lamlening was lucky enough to escape,
01:59 but she lives every day in fear for her family's safety.
02:02 We were so terrified.
02:03 There's a military camp nearby our place.
02:06 So we had to run for our lives to save our lives there.
02:09 So we go there and took shelter and spent like a week there.
02:13 We only had to eat one meal a day.
02:16 I had high hopes for myself.
02:18 I want to serve the nation somehow.
02:21 I strive so hard, but situations compel me to flee here
02:24 and start working, which I never dreamed of.
02:27 I have to be separated from my family.
02:31 And I miss them so much as I talk about them now.
02:34 Lamlening had come as a spokesperson
02:36 for her community, the cookie-soumy community.
02:39 The protest was organized under a joint banner, Bangalore
02:42 UNAU Forum.
02:44 This includes the Cookie Students Organization,
02:46 HMAR Students Association, Soumy Youth Association,
02:50 Bangalore Mizo Association, and Cookie NP Karnataka.
02:54 And this is the country where we have free voice.
02:59 Just like Lamlening, there were several others
03:01 present at the protest who had similar experiences.
03:04 Every women, children who've been there on the same day,
03:08 they have fled the night because the people who
03:11 came to attack them in thousands.
03:13 So from afar, they could hear the noise.
03:17 So they fled.
03:18 But we left my cousin brother, who
03:21 is the only man in that village, at that moment.
03:24 But the next day morning, he was caught by these people.
03:30 And he was burned alive.
03:35 Anywhere we know, it's not new thing.
03:37 But when we see in any way a problem in Gujarat,
03:41 anywhere, no violence lasted that long.
03:45 So we've been asking this question, why, why, why,
03:49 why state government is not?
03:50 And all does.
03:52 But nothing has been done.
03:54 No changes has been done.
03:56 We want separate administration.
03:59 We want separate administration.
04:02 The protesters who had gathered today
04:04 demanded a separate administration
04:05 for the tribes in Manipur and want the law and order
04:08 to be in place as soon as possible.
04:11 I think this passed.
04:12 20 days passed.
04:13 A month went.
04:15 And then three months already today.
04:18 And atrocities continued.
04:20 Every morning, every evening, we see the Twitter.
04:23 We see the YouTube.
04:25 We see the news that the fighting, I mean,
04:27 the attack has not stopped.
04:29 And also people who have been, you know, brutalized, gang
04:33 grabbed, or, you know, houses burned,
04:36 there has been no relief.
04:38 There has been no justice given.
04:40 So we can't be sitting quiet anywhere in the world.
04:43 We demand that our demand, the only demand,
04:48 or the only solution is separate administration
04:52 from Manipur government.
04:54 That is union territory with legislature.
04:57 That is our main focus of today's solidarity,
05:00 sit-in protest rally that we have today.
05:04 A video showing two women from one of the communities
05:12 in the state went viral on July 19.
05:15 This resulted in a massive uproar across the country
05:17 on crimes allegedly being committed
05:19 in the northeastern state since May 3rd this year.
05:22 And ever since I saw this news about Manipur,
05:26 and when they're calling the Zoho-Kuki community
05:28 as illegal immigrant and poop-poppy cultivators,
05:31 my heart breaks down.
05:33 Because the rest of India do not know
05:35 they are integral part of our country.
05:38 Manipur has been dragged by violence
05:39 after clashes broke out between Kuki and Mete communities
05:42 earlier this year.
05:43 The Kuki's scheduled tribe have been opposing the demand
05:46 for an SD tag for the Mete's.
05:48 The violence that followed continues till today.
05:50 It has claimed over 100 lives and displaced thousands,
05:53 with camera person Prashant, Rishika Kashyap
05:55 for Deccan Herald.
05:58 (upbeat music)
06:01 (music fades)
06:03 [MUSIC]