Fresh violence in Manipur: School set ablaze in Moreh, houses gutted in Jiribam

Moreh is also one of the largest commercial hubs of Manipur, which has been shut down since the outbreak of violence last year.

Imphal: A school building at T Motha near Moreh, a border town of Manipur, was set ablaze by unknown assailants on Wednesday while abandoned houses and shops were set on fire in Kalinagar, Jiribam district, as the state experienced fresh spate of violence since last week after the recovery of the beheaded body of a missing person on June 6, triggering a fresh bout of violence and forcing over 1,000 people to flee to safer places in Assam and other parts of the Jiribam area.

People evacuated from violence-affected areas take rest at a shelter (ANI Photo)

According to people aware of the matter, at around 9pm on Wednesday, unknown assailants set fire to the newly constructed building of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya near Moreh town, which is yet to be inaugurated.

Moreh is also one of the largest commercial hubs of Manipur, which has been shut down since the outbreak of violence that erupted from Churachandpur district on May 3, 2023.

According to the people, Border Security Force (BSF) jawans had planned to establish a post at the newly constructed JNV building, T Motha, a village largely inhabited by the Anāl community. The village is located just opposite an Assam Rifles post.

Moreh town, located on the Indo-Myanmar border, has been a hot spot for illegal infiltrators for many years. Reports suggest that many armed groups from Myanmar are staying at various locations in and around Moreh town, particularly in Sahei, Haolenphai, T Minou, Govajang, B Bongjang, and others.

Following the arson incident, villagers in the surrounding areas blocked all roads leading to JNV, T Motha, with logs to prevent the security forces from reaching the spot. However, the 5th Assam Rifles post, which is located just opposite the school, remained a silent spectator instead of taking the necessary steps to extinguish the fire.

Additionally, three houses and one shop were set on fire in Kalinagar, Jiribam district, Manipur on Wednesday night. According to the police, the shop belonged to a member of the Hmar community.

The police said the incident took place at around 10:30pm and due to the quick response of the district police, the fire was extinguished. Later, at around 1:30am on Thursday, three abandoned houses located in the same area were set on fire by unknown assailants, but the fire was later extinguished.

Meanwhile, chief minister N Biren Singh’s advanced security convoy reached Jiribam district on Tuesday after the convoy was ambushed by armed militants along the NH-37 (Imphal-Silchar via Jiribam) road on Monday. One of the Manipur cabinet ministers, L Susindro, also reached Jiribam on Wednesday by helicopter.

According to officials aware of the development, CM Singh will also likely visit Jiribam to meet the affected people after the violence reignited on June 6. However, after his advanced security convoy was ambushed along NH-37, the schedule is yet to be fixed.

Around 600 affected people who were evacuated from vulnerable areas are still taking shelter at a sports complex near Jiribam police station.

Under the guidance of deputy commissioner Krishna Kumar, the district administration, Jiribam’s relief team inspected the relief camps on Thursday. The team also interacted with the inmates to identify any gaps.

In its continuous efforts, the Jiribam relief team distributed essential and daily need items to various relief camps to ensure that everyone has access to necessary resources during these challenging times.

On the other hand, the district administration has made arrangements to resume classes from pre-primary to class VIII at Chingdong Leikai Upper Primary School, Jiribam, from Friday.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between Meiteis, who are in majority in Imphal Valley, and Kuki-Zo communities, who are dominant in a few hill districts, since May last year. The violence has so far claimed over 220 lives and uprooted over 50,000.