New Delhi: Five months since the ethnic conflict in Manipur began on May 3, the divisions and strife continue and peace remains elusive. The internet remains shut down after a short-lived restoration and normal life has been disrupted for the state’s population.According to the government’s statistics, 178 people have been killed. Civil society groups put this number at close to 200. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced.Many of those affected by the violence, Hindustan Times reported, are still hoping for some form of justice. For instance the mother of 21-year-old college student Hanglalmuan Vaiphei from Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, who was beaten to death by a mob on May 3 while in police custody, has heard nothing about how her son’s case is progressing.“Nobody has contacted us to record out statement, and the police has given us no relief,” she said. Vaiphei’s body is still in a mortuary in Imphal, as the family is unable to make the journey to claim it due to the existing social divisions.In another case highlighted by the newspaper, Imphal-based Kavita Singh does not know if her government employee husband is dead or alive. He and another Meitei man were last seen near Kangpokpi district on May 6, and there has been no news of them since.“We had asked the state government to hand over the case of my missing husband and his friend to CBI, but we have no update on whether that has happened. Police have not reached our home, or updated us on any progress in investigations. There has been no relief from the government, and my husband’s salary has also not been paid to us,” she told Hindustan Times.A serious concern during the violence has been the looting of state armouries. In total, nearly 4,500 weapons and around 650,000 rounds of ammunition have gone missing. Of these, only 1,500 arms and around 15,000 pieces of ammunition have been recovered.Deep divisions have led to the creation of “buffer zones” between Meitei-dominated and Kuki-dominated areas – and the Manipur Police are not able to access these zones. Between Churachandpur and Imphal, according to The Tribune, there are four barricades – manned by the Army, the second by the Assam Rifles, the third by the BSF and the last one by the CRPF (all central forces).“In the media these locations with heavy presence of Central forces are known as buffer zones. We call them hotspots. The multiple barriers set up before Churachandpur is one of those hotspots. There are a number of such hotspots across the state,” Kuldiep Singh, a former CRPF DG who has been appointed Security Adviser to the state government, said.These buffer zones, combines with widespread internal migration, have also reportedly complicated the Manipur Police’s investigations and operations.
