Mr. Missing Prime Minister, Manipur is Still Burning.
A drone attack (the first recorded) in the insurgency in Manipur, a year and a half after conflict broke out and hell broke loose.
It’s been around 500 days since violence broke out in the state of Manipur, in India’s Northeast, on the border with Myanmar.
(I love maps. Image Source)
It’s been around 500 days of violence in the state of Manipur. At the crux of the conflict is a complex web of ethnic and tribal tensions, political/social/economic representation and issues, religion, historical factors and more. I wrote a little about it, covering the underlying issues and the factors exacerbating the conflict for
this year here:I also discussed it with 5THGEN in a little podcast over a year ago here:
There’s many articles/documentaries/videos/ of what’s going on, so let me know if you want some references.
It’s been around 500 days since Manipur has been in a state of violence and insurgency - the scale of which is unprecedented. More so, despite a history of insurgency in the Northeast.
This is the first time that the Indian security apparatus has faced the threat of armed drone attacks. There have been two this week. At least two people were killed, and “several” were injured. And it’s unclear who conducted it. The state police have been working with militant groups of one ethnicity, while there are accusations of other ethnic insurgent groups getting support from insurgent groups in Myanmar, and there’s allegations that different agencies are working with different groups and its all a mess. Politicians are in bed with drug smugglers, the police are being police (and by that I mean not policing), the state government is trying to hinder centrally-deployed security forces, Manipur is essentially getting cut up into no-mans lands and ethnic territories. And thousands of people, men, women, children, have: been displaced, killed, injured, disappeared, executed, murdered, tortured, faced sexual violence, hunger, death, oh and a few people have been beheaded too thus far.
But the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has a penchant for going overseas and hugging world leaders (allegedly), has not ONCE visited the state of Manipur. He’s been around the WHOLE country (doing a whole election tour since last year - elections were in May and June). He’s been overseas a lot, currently in Southeast Asia smiling. Not related-but it seems like he’s got his face done more.
But other than a few vague statements here and there, the Indian Prime Minister has not done ANYTHING to bring back peace in Manipur (which seems increasingly unlikely as his own government is facilitating some of the violence and unrest). Despite the people of Manipur begging him to come to help resolve the violence.