After a year of ethnic clashes, Manipur hopes for fresh start as LS polls come around

Imphal (Manipur) [India], April 16 : Racked, bloodied and wounded by ethnic clashes for close to a year, Manipur will poll for a fresh start and lasting peace as the Lok Sabha elections come around in the volatile Northeast state on April 19.
The Northeast state will poll in two phases, with Inner Manipur voting on April 19 and Outer Manipur in both phases, on April 19 and 26.
While there is no official word on the rationale behind holding the polls in Outer Manipur in both the phases, it is believed that the decision was taken after assessing security concerns in the violence-hit state.
A total of 15 assembly segments will see polling for the Lok Sabha on April 19, while another 13 assembly segments will poll on April 26.
Significantly, the district of Churachandpur, which was epicentre of the ethnic violence that erupted last year, leaving many dead while displacing still more in the face of rampant violence and arsoning, will also go to polls in the opening phase on April 19.
Also, significantly, the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs).
As has been widely reported, the state fell into waves of ethnic clashes after the majority Meiteis, who inhabit the valleys and plains, and the Kukis, who are settled in the upper reaches of the state, came into conflict over an order by the Manipur High Court, directing the state government to consider including the Meiteis to the list of STs.
The Outer Manipur seat is currently being held by Naga People's Front (NPF) candidate Lorho S Phoze, who trounced the BJP's Shokhopao Mate by a margin of 73,782 votes in the 2019 elections.
This time, however, the NPF is going into the polls as a partner in the BJP-led NDA. The BJP, earlier, announced its support for NPF candidate for Outer Manipur, Kachui Timothy Zimik.
Interestingly, the NPF, this time, decided against letting the sitting MP seek a fresh term in the Lok Sabha. Zimik is up against Congress MLA Alfred K Arthur, who is the joint Opposition candidate of the INDIA bloc.
As the state goes poll-mode with scars from the ethnic violence still fresh in the minds of many, officials have set up 29 special polling stations for about 5,000 people, who are presently sheltered in camps after being displaced by the clashes.
Polling officials told ANI that all necessary arrangements have been made to enabled the displaced locals to vote, adding that the special provisions have been put together in accordance with the guidance received from the central government.
The Election Commission notified a scheme to allow internally displaced voters to vote from the camp they are settled in currently.
Ethnic clashes erupted in the Northeast state in May, last year, after a tribal solidarity march organised to protest against an order of the Manipur High Court, asking the state government to consider including the majority community in the state in the list of Scheduled Tribes, took a violent turn.
In a statement on September 15, last year, Manipur Police informed that the violence claimed 175 lives, while another 1,138 were injured and 33 people were reported missing.
In another grim fallout of the violence, scores were displaced after their houses were set ablaze during the ethnic clashes.
In January this year, after reports of fresh violence in the state, a three-member team from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), headed by advisor AK Mishra, was sent to Imphal to assess the situation in the violence-hit state.
In his first visit to the Northeast state since the ethnic clashes, Union Home Minister Amit Shah came visiting Manipur to campaign on Monday.
Addressing the public, Shah underscored the Centre's priority, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to restore lasting peace to the volatile state going forward, while asserting that, "no matter how much one tries to foment trouble here, (we won't let Manipur break up)."
However, there was fresh violence in the state ahead of Shah's visit, as two persons from the minority Kuki community were shot dead.
Recently, speaking to an Asamese daily, Prime Minister Modi said it was down to the "timely intervention of the Centre and efforts of the state government" that there's been a 'marked improvement' in security situation in the state.
He added that the country's best resources and administrative machinery were dedicated to resolve the conflict and bring back peace, breaking the cycle of violence.
The general elections will be held across seven phases, from April 19 to June 1, to elect the 543 members to the 18th Lok Sabha. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.
With lingering fears of a fresh wave of violence, the state will go to polls in the hope that those elected to the Lower House will work to advance peace in the state.