India: Fresh bout of violence rocks Manipur, popular tribal songwriter among 6 killed

In a fresh bout of violence, a popular tribal songwriter-composer was among six killed while 14 others were injured in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. The incident took place along the state'svolatileBishnupur-Churachandpurborder where the divide between the valley and hill districts has led to an escalation in violence.

According to reports,42-year-oldLS Mangboi Lhungdim, credited for penning the tribal anthem“I gam hilou ham (Is this not our land?)” was killed in the gunfight between Meitei and Kuki groups. He died around 1 am on Thursday (August 31) while being evacuated to Aizwal, the capital city of neighbouringMizoram.

“Two persons sustained splinter injuries in a gunfight on Wednesday. One of them died on Wednesday night while he was being taken to Aizawl in Mizoram for treatment while another died on Thursday morning,” said Karthik Malladi, Churachandpur superintendent of police (SP).

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Since the start of the week, there have been fresh gunfights in the two districts. Despite heavy deployment of police personnel, intermittent gunfights have been taking place. After the violence, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), an umbrella body of Kuki groups in the Churachandpur district, announced it had imposed anemergency shutdown in the district.

Reports indicate that armed outfits used drones to obtain targets forincessant mortar shelling as well. A cache of weapons was also seized during a combing operation by the authorities in the last 24 hours.

Watch |Manipur violence: Who is accountable?

What is happening in Manipur?

Manipur has been rocked by ethnic violence since May. Over 160 people have been killed while tens of thousands have been displaced. The violence started after a court ordered the state government to consider extending special economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education enjoyed by the tribal Kuki people to the majority Meitei population as well.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Meanwhile, Nagas and Kukisconstitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.

What started with street protests spiralled into an armed conflict. The Narendra Modi-led central government even faced a 'no-trust motion' in the parliament, brought by the newly-minted opposition bloc called INDIA, for failing to address the situation in the state.

(With inputs from agencies)

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