Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:
People from all communities have started surrendering looted and illegally held weapons in Manipur, days after Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla requested them to do so within seven days. Anyone with illegal and looted weapons who miss the deadline will face strict action.
Some members of the Kuki-Zo tribes deposited firearms to the Assam Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Churachandpur district today, the police said in a statement.
The firearms include M16, AK series, INSAS, self-loading rifle, and mortar rounds, among others.
Some members of the Meitei community also came forward and deposited firearms to the police in Imphal valley, the police said.
In Kakching district, the police received a few weapons including .303 rifles, bulletproof vests, and ammunition.
In Kangpokpi district’s Saparmeina, people deposited firearms and ammunition including AK series and INSAS assault rifles to the officer in charge of the local police station.
In response to the appeal made by Hon’ble Governor, Manipur on 20.02.2025, urging individuals to surrender illegal arms and ammunition, several weapons and related items were handed over to the authorities as follows –
i) At SP- Kakching, Kakching District:
01(one) no of .303… pic.twitter.com/1s4tk8p9Lw— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) February 22, 2025
The surrendered firearms in Churachandpur, 65 km from the state capital Imphal, were shown to reporters today at the camp of the 27 Assam Rifles in the presence of the district administration, the police said in the statement.
They said this is the first step towards de-weaponizing the society and creating a safe and secure atmosphere where regular activities can be boosted.
In any movement towards a normal life, de-weaponization is always the first step, the statement said.
Simultaneous De-Weaponization
The Governor’s call for surrender of looted and illegally held weapons by people from both warring communities is significant since the state is under the President’s rule. Kuki and Meitei civil society organisations have been asking the Centre to ensure simultaneous disarmament due to the severe loss of trust between the two sides – both accuse each other of attacking villages in the foothills, where the valley and the hills meet.
An estimated 6,000 firearms were looted from police stations and armouries across Manipur after ethnic clashes broke out on May 3, 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur.
Many members of the valley-dominant Meitei militia Arambai Tenggol (AT) have been named in cases of police armory lootings. The AT, however, says it is a cultural organisation compelled to take up arms as village defence volunteers after ineffective law enforcement in the early days of the ethnic violence led to Meitei villages in the foothills coming under attacks from Kuki militants.
Kuki civil society groups have alleged the AT launched attacks on their villages along the inter-district borders after the first wave of clashes in May 2023, which forced the Kuki tribes to take up arms and form village defence forces, trained and armed by militants who had signed a ceasefire of sorts [suspension of operations, or SoO, agreement] with the Centre and the state.
‘Vounteers’ In Manipur
While both sides call their armed individuals “volunteers”, a similar feature is the weapons they use – AK and M series assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, crude and military grade mortars, high-end sniper rifles, surveillance drones, etc.
Banned Meitei militant groups such as the PLA, KYKL and KCP that had become nearly extinct in Manipur for the last 10 years also returned from Myanmar after May 2023 and due to the junta’s diminishing hold in areas where the few remaining Meitei militants camped.
The United National Liberation Front (Pambei), or UNLF (P), is the only Meitei militant group that signed a SoO-like ceasefire with the Centre and the state government.
The Kuki-Zo tribes have nearly two dozen insurgent groups that come under two umbrella organisations called the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF). The KNO and UPF have signed the controversial SoO agreement whose terms include the insurgents staying at designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly. Many of them face allegations of taking part in the Manipur violence.
The authorities in Manipur – which came under the President’s rule after Chief Minister N Biren Singh and his council of ministers resigned – have been requesting all communities to disarm so that normal life can resume, and internally displaced people can return home, while talks can go on among leaders.
