Manipur violence | Representational image
Guwahati, Dec 2: When the ethnic divide is deeply rooted, it takes time to settle the differences and the main aim of the Centre is now to bring the situation in Manipur under control with the deployment of extra forces. One more area of concern is the easy availability of weapons in the hands of miscreants.
Official sources told The Assam Tribune that the ethnic hatred between the Kuki and Meitei communities is deep-rooted and it may take some time to bring the situation under control. The Central Government is trying to get the leaders of both the communities to the negotiation table. Leaders of both communities had meetings with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs but they did not sit together.
Sources pointed out that earlier also, the North East region witnessed ethnic clashes and some clashes went on for years. For example, the ethnic clash between Naga and Kuki communities went on for almost five years since 1993 but at that time there was no social media and most of the incidents of violence were not reported. According to Government reports, more than 250 persons have so far lost their lives in the clashes and the damages caused to proper-ties are yet to be ascertained. Sources admitted that the easy availability of weapons is the main cause of concern.
More than 5,000 weapons from the Government armoury were looted by miscreants when the incidents of violence started, while, Kuki militant groups also have weapons and there are reasons to believe that weapons are also coming from Myanmar.
In any armed force, every weapon is accounted for and the loss of a single weapon results in a thorough probe. But in this case, thousands of weapons were looted by miscreants from police and no one was punished so far, sources admitted.
On the use of drones by miscreants, sources said that the drones used are not sophisticated ones and are easily available in the open market. Those drones also cannot carry heavy objects and it would not be possible for the miscreants to drop powerful bombs with the help of those drones.
At this moment, efforts are on to keep the situation under control and additional forces are deployed as far as possible. Senior officers of the Army and Central Reserve Police Force are also visiting the trouble-torn state to oversee the operations.
By-
R Dutta Choudhury
