With the CBSE Board examinations beginning on Tuesday and no let-up in tensions between the Tangkhul Naga and Kuki communities in Manipur’s Ukhrul, 51 Kuki students from a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in the district have been relocated to Kuki-majority Kangpokpi district. The relocation itself briefly ran into trouble when villagers mistook the students for “miscreants”.
Asit Pattanaik, the school’s principal in Ramva village, said 18 of the children who have been moved are from Classes X and XII, while 33 are from other grades. He said the Board examination centres for the 18 children have been shifted to Kangpokpi.
Ukhrul, a Tangkhul Naga-majority district in Manipur, has been gripped by tensions between members of that community and Kuki residents since February 7, stemming from incidents that spiralled into arson and firing in the mixed-community Litan and adjoining villages.
While the violence itself has quietened and become sporadic, tensions remain high. As a result, 51 Kuki students of the Ministry of Education-run JNV, Ramva, were moved last week to the 40 Assam Rifles Battalion headquarters in Shangshak and the 40 Assam Rifles base in Shokvao. JNV Ramva, a residential school, has 526 students and is located around 10 kilometres away from Litan.
However, with the Board examinations approaching, school authorities reportedly sought to shift Class X and XII students from the Kuki community to a place where they can write their examinations without impediments.
“Womenfolk from Tangkhul groups have been staging sit-ins on the road and highways, and that was scaring the children. The school authorities requested that the children taking Board examinations be transferred to JNV Kangpokpi,” said a government official.
But the movement, which was undertaken on Sunday, itself ran into trouble and attracted the attention of agitated members of the public.
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“When the evacuation of the students began on Sunday, people came out and started raising issues with it, and ultimately demanded that all of them (Kuki students) be evacuated. So the administration decided to move all the Kuki children to Kangpokpi so that they can be free from the fear and trauma of the experience,” said a government official.
Mashungmi Zingkhai, president of the Tangkhul students’ organisation Katho Katamnao Long, said the movement of Kukis is “prohibited in our area”.
“In all Tangkhul areas, people are frisking and controlling the movement of Kukis. Yesterday, we got to know that some students were being hidden in the Assam Rifles camps, and there were people from our community who did not want their movement and were trying to stop it. Because our fight is not with the children, I accompanied them till the Litan police station, which involves crossing four Tangkhul villages, and tried to convince people to calm down and not obstruct them. But we asked them to move all the children and not just the few in Classes X and XII because we cannot take the risk and responsibility of their safety,” he said.
The Manipur police, in a statement, said that members of the public “mistook” the students for “miscreants”.
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“The support of the TKS (Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong, apex Tangkhul student union in Manipur) and its zonal units, particularly the president of the Katho Katamnao Long, was crucial in de-escalating tensions. Their efforts in persuading villagers across the Shangshak, Ramva, Shokvao, TM Kasom, and S Laho areas ensured the safe evacuation of the students to Litan police station, despite heightened tensions in the area,” the police said.
The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has directed the authorities at JNV Kangpokpi to arrange accommodation for all the transferred students. Apart from Class X and XII students who will take the Board exams, the rest should be able to write their annual examinations at JNV Kangpokpi, the Samiti said. Authorities have been instructed to hand over all children to their parents or guardians once their examinations are complete.
“All the students are well and good. They have written their exams today. We are making sure that every requirement is being taken care of,” said JNV Kangpokpi principal P S Yadav on Tuesday.
According to Mercy Khongsai, vice-president of the Kuki Students’ Organisation, Ukhrul, the children are mostly from Ukhrul district, while some are from the neighbouring Tangkhul-majority Kamjong district.
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“Since we are in touch with the children and believe that the safety and security of the students should not be compromised at any cost, we requested both their evacuation to the Assam Rifles camps and the temporary arrangements for students of Classes X and XII in Kangpokpi so they can write their exams in peace. We didn’t necessarily want their complete withdrawal, but the administration thought it best because of the demands of the protesters,” she said.
As for their return to their school, the consensus is that it will not happen at least as long as the examinations are on.
“They have to go back to their own school once things are calmer; the government will facilitate that. The situation has to be normalised; we cannot institutionalise the separation. That might also have implications for Nagas living in other districts,” said a government official.
Litan resident Jangkholen, whose 13-year-old niece is one of the students who were evacuated to Kangpokpi, said the family was worried about the possibility of violence spreading to the area surrounding the school.
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He said that the family had spoken to her through her warden’s phone and found that she was afraid. “Not just her, all the children, they were crying and asking what would happen. It was heartbreaking,” he said.
He said the family would be happy to send her back to her own school, where she has studied for the past two years, if the situation normalises. “If everything is peaceful, why wouldn’t we want to send her back? But if not, that is out of the question.”
