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Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Manipur simmers after Arambai Tenggol leader arrested: A short history of the Meitei outfit
The CBI's arrest of a leader from Meitei outfit Arambai Tenggol on Saturday has put the focus back on the group. Protests immediately followed the arrest, with internet services snapped across Manipur's central valley. In a statement, the CBI said it arrested Asem Kanan Singh, the self-styled 'army chief' of the outfit at Imphal airport over his involvement in 'various criminal activities related to Manipur violence in 2023' and that he had been taken to Guwahati in connection with the investigation. According to officials, Asem was also allegedly involved in the February 2024 abduction of an Additional SP of Imphal West from his home. The arrest is significant as the organisation shot to prominence after the violence between the Meitei and Kuki groups in May 2023. In an environment of a near-institutional collapse in Manipur, along with a complete separation of Meitei and Kuki populations and a general lack of trust in the fairness of police and security forces, a lot of radical and militant organisations have become operational on either side of the ethnic divide. Sources in the security establishment say that Tenggol and its newfound clout are a product of this. In January 2024, more than 30 MLAs across party lines, as well as Minister of State for External Affairs and Inner Manipur Lok Sabha MP Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba, had gathered for a meeting in Imphal upon 'summons' from Arambai Tenggol. Chief Minister N Biren Singh was among those who later signed a document containing the demands of the group. Subsequently, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed that the party's legislators had been attacked at the meeting. Formed as a socio-cultural outfit in 2020, the Arambai Tenggol has come to prominence since the Meitei-Kuki conflict began in 2023, garnering public support and administrative clout. The group's name roughly translates to 'spear wielders' and is derived from the ancient war tactics of Meitei warriors. While it has an armed cadre strength of around 2,000, the outfit is supported by several thousand volunteers across the Imphal Valley. Soon after violence erupted in May 2023, members of the group were seen to be at the forefront of the clashes with Kukis, and were accused of looting arms from state armouries and defending Meitei villages against Kuki attacks. Multiple FIRs registered by the Manipur Police in the initial days of the violence in the state mentioned Arambai Tenggol. Kuki groups claim that Tenggol fighters have led mobs that torched their villages and killed their people, while the Manipur Police remained a mute spectator. The group's cadre are also suspected to be involved in the clashes with Kuki militants in Moreh. The group also casts a political shadow. In a social media post in August 2022, it claimed to have met Biren Singh. A picture of the meeting showed Singh and Sanajaoba sitting with the group's chief, Khuman, and other members of the Arambai Tenggol. That September, a Facebook post by Sanajaoba, who is also the titular king of Manipur, showed Tenggol members taking 'oath' at his residence. Tenggol members typically wear black T-shirts with a red coloured picture of Meitei cavalry on the back. They also hoist Salai Taret flags which have seven colours, with each representing a clan of the Meiteis. Security establishment sources say that leaders of the group often invoke ancient Meitei culture and the historical Meitei kingdom of Kangleipak as well as use nationalistic rhetoric and talk about the protection of the Sanamahism religion. 'By putting themselves at the forefront of violence against the Kukis and defending villages against Kuki attacks, the group has garnered tremendous public support in the Valley. It has sophisticated arms, mostly looted from police armouries, and enjoys some sympathy in the Manipur Police constabulary. At a time when the credibility of Manipur politicians is rather low, the group has gained clout. Everyone, including political leaders, wants to associate with it,' said a Manipur official. Sources said the security establishment, too, was wary of taking any action against the group, or even against the Kuki militant groups, given the support they enjoy at the moment in their respective areas of influence. In May 2023, when it began making headlines amid violence in the state, the Arambai Tenggol announced its dissolution. Security establishment sources, however, said it merely pretended to do that to go underground. Earlier this year, addressing members of Arambai Tenggol at an event in Imphal, Sanajaoba said that the group would 'be ready for the call to defend our land' at any time despite having publicly handed over some of its weapons to the police.
NDTV
2 days ago
- NDTV
Ceasefire-Linked Kuki Insurgent Among 3 Arrested By NIA For Allegedly Killing 2 Manipur Commandos
Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. The NIA arrested three insurgents, including a Kuki National Army (KNA) member, for a January 2024 attack in Manipur's Moreh that killed two commandos. This highlights violation of the SoO agreement amidst the ethnic violence in the border state Manipur. Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi: Three insurgents have been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly attacking a police post and killing two commandos in Manipur's border town Moreh in January 2024. The arrested insurgents include a member of the Kuki National Army (KNA), a signatory to the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement under which insurgents are to stay at designated camps with weapons kept in locked storage, jointly monitored. This is the second time an authority confirmed on record the violation of SoO ground rules by Kuki insurgents in Manipur in the last two years since Meitei-Kuki ethnic clashes began in May 2023. The KNA insurgent Kamginthang Gangte and a Churachandpur district village volunteer Hentinthang Kipgen alias Thangneo Kipgen were arrested from the state capital Imphal on June 6, the NIA said in a statement on Sunday. "The duo was part of the team that had executed the deadly attack [in Moreh]. NIA is continuing with its investigations and search for the other perpetrators of the attack in the case," the anti-terror agency said. The NIA said the main accused, Thangminlen Mate, is a resident of Tengnoupal district and a "member of the Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal (KIT) insurgent group". "The three men, along with their associates, had planned, conspired and executed the attack on an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) post and security forces in Moreh, Tengnoupal district, on 17th January 2024," the NIA said. The "Kuki Inpi Tengnoupal insurgent group" member played a key role in orchestrating and carrying out the attack in Moreh, the NIA said, adding he was arrested on May 19 in Assam's Silchar. 3 Insurgents Arrested by NIA in Attack on Manipur Security Forces Case — NIA India (@NIA_India) June 8, 2025 SoO Agreement Ground Rules Violation The first official confirmation of the SoO agreement's ground rules violation came from the Manipur Police in September 2024 when three Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) insurgents - all of them residents of Churachandpur district - were killed in a gunfight in Jiribam. They were Seiminlen Khongsai, Haogoulen Doungel (31), and Nehboithang Haokip (26). The Manipur Police in September 2024 also for the first time confirmed the involvement of Meitei insurgent group UNLF (P), which had signed a ceasefire with the Centre and the state, after a UNLF (P) insurgent identified as Baspatimayum Lakhi Kumar Sharma (41) was killed in the Jiribam gunfight. The NIA's June 8, 2025 statement and the Manipur Police's September 8, 2024 statement show that insurgent groups in Manipur that have signed the SoO agreement or ceasefire with the Centre and the state have been involved in the Manipur violence. While the authorities have confirmed only two cases of SoO agreement and ceasefire violations in the last two years, both Meitei and Kuki civil society groups accuse each other of hiding the involvement of insurgents belonging to their respective communities in dozens of cases. Over 260 have been killed and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced in the Manipur ethnic violence.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Video: Protesters Pour Petrol On Head, Threaten To Set Themselves On Fire In Manipur
Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Protesters in Manipur's capital Imphal threatened to set themselves on fire over the arrest of Arambai Tenggol leader Kanan Singh. The government has imposed curfew and snapped internet in five valley districts of Manipur. Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi: A group of young men poured petrol on their heads and threatened to set themselves on fire in Manipur's capital Imphal over the arrest of a key leader of the Arambai Tenggol (AT), a volunteer group of the Meitei community which faces allegations of participating in the Meitei-Kuki ethnic clashes. Protests broke out on Saturday night in Imphal after the security forces arrested AT leader, Kanan Singh. The protesters burnt tyres on the road and blocked roads. Some Imphal residents also reported hearing the sound of gunfire. In visuals of the protest, a group of young men in black t-shirts were seen holding bottles with petrol in them. One of them was heard saying, "We have given up arms. We have done what you're supposed to do during the floods. Now you're arresting us. We will kill ourselves." Kanan Singh is the main suspect in the attack on the house of Additional Superintendent of Police Moirangthem Amit and the subsequent kidnapping of the senior police officer in February 2024. The same month, he served as a head constable attached to a commando unit of the state police before the force suspended him over "dereliction of duty". Thereafter, Kanan Singh joined the AT. A curfew has been imposed and internet has been snapped for five days in five districts - Bishnupur, Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, and Kakching. The protesters referred to the AT handing over firearms on the assurance of security guarantee of Meitei villages in the foothills in February after Manipur Governor AK Bhalla, under the President's rule, ordered everyone in the border state to hand over illegally held and looted firearms. AT members were also seen in flood relief work in recent days in Manipur's valley areas. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is looking into several cases in Manipur, including against AT chief Korounganba Khuman. Protests In Moreh The fresh protests in Imphal come amid a mass agitation by the Kuki tribes over the arrest of a suspected insurgent leader from their community from the border town Moreh for allegedly killing a Manipur Police officer with a sniper rifle in October 2023. The accused, Kamgingthang Gangte, is allegedly a leader of the insurgent group Kuki National Army (KNA) which signed the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre and the state government. The KNA and other SoO agreement signatories face allegations of ground rules violation. "It is a matter of deep concern that so-called civil society groups are protesting against the arrest of a militant, who is under the SoO agreement, and allegedly linked to the murder of a police officer on duty," a spokesperson of the civil group Meitei Heritage Society told reporters. "Facing Resistance During Arrests" Police sources said that with the state deeply divided on ethnic lines, investigators face resistance from both communities whenever they move in to arrest suspects as part of the formal process. The AT maintains it is a cultural organisation that was compelled to take up arms as "village volunteers" due to ineffective law enforcement in the early days of the ethnic violence in May 2023; it says lack of law enforcement led to Meitei villages in the foothills coming under attacks from Kuki militants. The Kuki tribes have alleged the AT is a "radical Meitei militia" that have been attacking Kuki villages. Kuki civil society groups have also 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 volunteers". Many AT members have been named in cases of police armoury lootings. 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, Zomi and Hmar 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 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 Manipur violence has claimed over 260 lives and displaced nearly 50,000 people.
Deccan Herald
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
Curfew in Manipur's Kamjong as Kuki villages set on fire amid efforts to end conflict
Kuki group to observe "separation day" on May 3 to mark two years of Meitei-Kuki conflict.
