Two years after violence erupted in Manipur, the Kuki and Meitei communities remain geographically and socially divided.
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00:00Let's now get you a ground report from Manipur. It's been two years since the
00:04violence broke out, triggering that deep divide between the Mete and Koki
00:07communities. India Today's Nalini Sharma was in Manipur over the weekend. She
00:11gets us this ground report on what the situation currently is today.
00:17Bringing you this exclusive ground report from the ground in Manipur, we're
00:31going to divulge exactly what is the status in the state right now, how are
00:36the Koki and Mete communities dealing with each other, what are the security
00:40forces doing and what remains to be seen in the days ahead.
00:50It's the evening before the Supreme Court judges delegation is set to visit
00:55the Manipur relief camps to see what the situation of the people who have been the
01:02worst affected by the violence that's going on in Manipur for the past two years has been like.
01:07In Churachandpur, a group of women have gathered together on the road to ensure
01:13that nobody in Churachandpur that mainly consists of the Koki community
01:18is actually breaking curfew and moving around outside after the curfew has been imposed.
01:32Can you tell us a little bit about what is it that all of you have gathered here to do?
01:36Actually, ma'am, we are gathered here for the safety and ensuring peace among ourselves,
01:44like we the mothers have gathered here to ensure safety and peace among us.
01:52All of you are mothers?
01:53Yeah.
01:54And how many women are here at a time?
01:57We are almost 100 and above women, almost 200 are here from various localities.
02:05There are several teams of multiple security forces, including the Indian Army, the Assam
02:12Police, the BSF, the CRPF, who are all present here and they are all ensuring that curfew is
02:20maintained and strictly followed by everyone. And this, remember, is happening just days after
02:26clashes had already broken out in the Churachandpur district on Tuesday between two sub communities
02:32of the larger Koki Zo tribe, where there were Maars and there were Zomis who had indulged in
02:39violence just ahead of the visit of the Supreme Court judges, which is why there are even more
02:45stricter measures that have been imposed in the district right now to ensure that especially
02:51during the time when the Supreme Court judges are in the state, there is no untoward incident
02:56that actually takes place and everybody maintains peace and they maintain calm and they ensure that
03:02only the authorized persons are being allowed to be on the road.
03:15We're right now inside the Churachandpur relief camp where the Supreme Court judges had visited
03:19earlier in the morning today and let's show you what it looks like from inside.
03:23So you can see that there are separate rooms or places that have been designated
03:28for people to stay in and these are divided by mere curtains as doors as well as acting
03:33as walls inside. And what we're given to understand is that one space or one room
03:38has been allotted to one family, which means that there are several rooms which have eight to nine
03:43people living because this has been done irrespective of what the size of the family is.
03:48Another interesting thing that has been told to us during our visit here is that you can see that
03:53these curtains are hanging by wooden rods or wooden planks. What we've gotten to know and
03:59several of the persons living here have told us is that all of these wooden planks were put in place
04:05just two days before the Supreme Court judges were set to arrive here at this relief camp.
04:11In fact, even all of the curtains that you see behind me were handed over
04:15to the IDPs who are living here just two days before the Supreme Court judges were coming.
04:23The buffer zone in Manipur has several security forces. The BSF, the Assam Police, the CRPF, the
04:37Indian Army all stationed a few meters away from each other to ensure that there is no untoward
04:43incident that happens around this area. Interestingly enough, the Indian government
04:48on paper has opened up the buffer zone to allow free movement of the people from the Kuki community
04:55to the Mehti community and vice versa. But what is the reality on the ground?
05:01Well, the reality on the ground is very different. Never in the history of India have two communities
05:07been geographically and socially divided to such an extent like the Mehtis and the Kukis
05:13have been in Manipur today. They do not visit each other at all. Kukis and Mehtis are not
05:20allowed to go to each other's region, not by the security forces, but by the people themselves,
05:27which is why even during the visit of the Supreme Court judges today, the Supreme Court judge who
05:32is a Mehti, Justice N. Koteswar Singh, did not visit the Kuki-dominated areas.