The situation in Manipur is quite disturbing as the month of September has not started on a good note. On September 1 afternoon, a drone dropped bombs on two Meitei-dominated villages in Imphal West district.
On September 2, drone bombing destroyed three India reserve Battalion bunkers in the Imphal East District. The drone attacks are being attributed to Kuki-Zo militant groups since the target was the Meitei-dominated population in the Imphal valley.
Both the drone attacks were followed by a heavy exchange of fire between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo groups protecting their respective turf. The clashes between the two warring communities have taken an even more violent turn in the last couple of days, resulting into death of 12 people. The drone attacks have added another dimension to the 16-month long conflict in Manipur. Now the security forces and the people have to guard and fight the drone threat from the air.
The confrontation on land in terms of firing, ambushes and snipping continues. The latest drone attacks are likely to have a ripple effect and the violence levels may escalate, if the past trends are any indication. The state has an area of 22,327 sq km with a valley floor of just 2000 sq km. It has a population of little over 30 lakhs with about 55% belonging to Hindu Meitei, Nagas at 20% and the Kukis-Zo accounting for 16%.
Meitei and Kuki-Zo people are in a state of conflict since 3 May 23 when violence erupted suddenly, immediate provocation being the Manipur High Court order recommending ST tribe to the Meitei community.
The Meitei community has been demanding ST status similar to the Kuki-Zo community so that they could buy land in the hills since the valley, which has maximum Meitei population is fully saturated. The Kuki-Zo community which is largely Christian is feeling threatened. This court order was stayed by the Supreme Court but by then the state was engulfed in conflict and violence.
For the last six months, the violence levels were brought down by keeping a sort of Buffer Zone between the two warring factions. Both the factions were confined to their respective dominated areas.
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