As ethnic violence rages on in Manipur, Indian government accused of looking the other way

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• Geoff Bennett:

  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to secure a third term in elections that are now under way, his promise, a rising united India.

  But, in India's northeast, a state is at war with itself. Hundreds are dead, tens of thousands are displaced, and the central government is accused of looking the other way.

  Producer Zeba Warsi got rare access to the deeply divided state of Manipur.

• And a warning:

  Some details in her report are disturbing.

• Zeba Warsi:

  It feels like a militarized border between two warring countries. But it's a road between two districts in an Indian state.

  Across 40 miles, we crossed a dozen checkpoints controlled by Indian security forces and civilian militias to reach the Christian minority stronghold Churachandpur.

• Ichan Lunginlal, Churachandpur, India, Resident (through interpreter):

  Our fathers and forefathers lived together in Manipur. But the ethnic conflict in Manipur has been so sudden.

• Zeba Warsi:

  Thirty-one-year-old Ichan Lunginlal is a Hindu from the majority Meitei Tribe who was married to Lalneo Lunginlal, a Christian of the minority Kuki tribe. They fell in love as teenagers. Their youngest daughter is 6-year-old Lamkholhing.

• Ichan Lunginlal (through interpreter):

  We could not spend even one day apart. It felt like a love straight out of a movie. It was difficult for us to spend any time away from each other.

• Zeba Warsi:

  They did not consider themselves star-crossed, but their love story ended when Manipur's fault lines cracked.

• Ichan Lunginlal (through interpreter):

  I spoke to him and asked, how is the situation right now? He responded and said the situation has become tense now. I could also hear his voice shaking, but he still consoled me and said: "Don't worry."

• At around 11:

  00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., I received a call from my husband, and I could hear him shouting: "Ichan, Ichan, they have found me and they are going to kill me."

• Zeba Warsi:

  What began last may as a protest over political participation and state benefits turned into an armed conflict between two tribes and religions that engulfed the state in flames. Entire villages were razed and hundreds of churches burned.

  The bulk of the dead and missing belong to the Christian Kuki minority, including Lalneo Lunginlal. He was last seen in this video with two other Christian Kuki men left to bleed on the street.

• Ichan Lunginlal (through interpreter):

  The mob killed my husband after brutally assaulting him like an animal. I don't think even animals are subject to such levels of violence.

• Zeba Warsi:

  At the wall of remembrance, Kukis display death, empty coffins in a line, one for every life lost.

  This wall bears the human cost of this conflict. The Kuki community calls it state-sponsored ethnic cleansing, and they tell us each picture on this wall has its own story to tell.

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi portrays India's future as strong and united. But Election Day in Manipur was marred by violence. The Hindu majority Meitei militia allegedly captured polling booths. They are heavily armed and throughout the conflict accused of killing with impunity.

  Civil rights advocates accuse the state government run by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, of protecting the perpetrators, and exploiting ethnic divisions.

• Kim Gangte, Kuki Women’s Human Rights Network:

  This is a war crime. This is ethnic cleansing. And, plus, this is a religious persecution.

• Zeba Warsi:

  Kim Gangte is a Kuki women rights activist who has documented sexual crimes.

• Kim Gangte:

  Most of our women who are there in the valley, they were being tortured. They were being raped. They were being killed.

• Zeba Warsi:

  In May last year, two Kuki women were paraded naked, beaten, and sexually assaulted by a mob of hundreds. One of them was allegedly gang-raped.

• Kim Gangte:

  We are very much Indian. We are very much the daughters and sons of India. We really wonder why the central government is still keeping silent.

• Zeba Warsi:

  Repeated requests for an interview with state government officials were ignored. After months of silence, Modi addressed the turmoil in Manipur only after the report of a gang-rape.

• Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister (through interpreter):

  In this country, in any corner of this country, in any state government rising above politics, law and order and respect for women is important. I want to assure the countrymen that no culprit will be spared.

• Zeba Warsi:

  But for the Christian Kuki community, that reassurance rings hollow. They no longer believe in living with the Hindu Meiteis. They want separate union territory, as we saw in the hillside town of Moreh.

  Last year, this local economic hub was engulfed in flames. Today, it is heavily guarded by Indian armed forces and nearly inaccessible to anyone outside. After a six-hour wait at a security checkpoint, we were allowed to enter.

• David Wapei, Kuki Student Organization:

  The moment one community sees the other community, they want to kill each other.

• Zeba Warsi:

  David Wapei is a Kuki activist in Moreh. He says there is an invisible boundary between these hillside towns and the capital forged on hate.

• David Wapei:

  There's so much of divisions or mistrust between the two communities that the two communities cannot live together now.

• Zeba Warsi:

  But Manipur's violence is on both sides. During our visit, an angry Kuki mob set the police station on fire. And more Hindu majority Meiteis have been forced out of their homes and now live in camps restricted to a small corner of the state.

• Hijam Kulajit, Imphal, India Resident (through interpreter):

  On that day I couldn't take her to her private tutor, as I usually could, as there was pain in my eye. This thought haunts me to this day.

• Zeba Warsi:

  Hijam Kulajit, a Hindu Meitei, is still to bury his 17 year old daughter with dignity. She was last seen with a classmate after they were abducted by Kuki militias. After weeks of outrage and protests, the accused were arrested, but her body was never found.

  Kulajit has made a shrine of memories of his daughter, who had big dreams.

• Hijam Kulajit (through interpreter):

  She had a cup with future she had a cup with "Future Doctor" written on it. She wanted to become a doctor to help the underprivileged.

• Zeba Warsi:

  The last drawing she made, the last book she read, her last Father's Day card bring pain, tears, and rage.

• Hijam Kulajit (through interpreter):

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not utter a single word about this case or the violence in Manipur all these month, even though the prime minister's so called slogan is save daughter, educate daughter. Will they be able to bring back my daughter?

• Zeba Warsi:

  There is no justice for a father who lost his daughter. And there is no closure for victims on both sides, who say they have been neglected.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Zeba Warsi in Manipur, India.

  —-

  Neel Madhav, Omair Farooq and Alishan Jafri contributed to field producing this piece.

  This reporting was supported by a grant from Unity Productions Foundation