Manipur records 50% of Northeast violence

Manipur has been the most violent state in 2018, accounting for 50 per cent of the total incidents reported across the Northeastern region last year, when the number of insurgency and civilian deaths was recorded as being lowest in the past 14 years, as per a Union Home Ministry report.

A total of 127 violent incidents were reported in Manipur in 2018, while the number of such incidents was 252 in the entire Northeastern region that includes Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

In 2018, however, the state witnessed a decline in insurgency-related incidents by 24 per cent compared to 167 in 2017, and civilian deaths went down from 23 in 2017 to 8 in 2018.

In 2018, counter insurgency operations led to the neutralization of 10 militants, arrest of 404 militants and recovery of 99 weapons in Manipur.

An insurgency-ridden state, Manipur is affected by activities of the Meitei, Naga, Kuki, Zomi, Hmar and Muslim underground outfits. The Meitei insurgency accounted for about 57 per cent of insurgency incidents in Manipur, killing of 6 security forces personnel and five civilians.

The data comes at a time when the Naga peace agreement with insurgent factions, including the NSCN-IM, could be signed any day with the Centre’s ongoing efforts for the “successful conclusion” of the 22-year-old peace talks.

The security situation in the Northeastern states has improved substantially since 2013, said the report, adding that 2018 witnessed the lowest number of insurgency incidents and civilian deaths since 1997.

The insurgency incidents registered a decline of 18 per cent in 2018 (with 252 cases) compared to 308 cases in 2017, said the report, adding that a 25 per cent reduction was also noted in the deaths of civilians and security forces personnel in the same year.

A total of 37 deaths were reported in 2018 compared to 49 in 2017. Of the 37 killings, 23 were civilians and 14 from security forces.

The report also said counter insurgency operations led to the neutralization of 34 militants, the arrest of 804, as well as recovery of 478 weapons in 2018 in a region which covers 8 per cent of the country’s geographical area and about 4 per cent of the national population and almost 5,484 km of its borders along Bangladesh (1,880 km), Myanmar (1,643 km), China (1,346 km), Bhutan (516 km) and Nepal (99 km).

Indo-Asian News Service