Why were Manipuri protestors in Delhi beaten up?

For almost a year now, three contentious bills related to Manipur have been in the eye of a hurricane. Many agitations have been held across the northeastern state as well as in Delhi. While some of those staged in Imphal turned violent, the protests in the national capital have, by and large, been peaceful.

Wednesday evening was no different – at least it was not supposed to be. Earlier in the day, an 18-member, all-party delegation led by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh had met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to try and get Presidential assent for the three controversial Bills passed by the state Legislative Assembly in 2015 – Land Reforms and Land Revenue (7th Amendment), Shops and Establishment (2nd Amendment), and Protection of Peoples.

Outside the Manipur Bhawan, in the capital’s Chanakyapuri area, some people had gathered to protest against the Bills as well as the delegation. Apart from Ibobi Singh’s effigies being burnt, the gathering, led by members of the Manipur Tribal Front Delhi, was reportedly peaceful.

It was at this point that things started going haywire.

From what eyewitnesses have told Chinglen Khumukcham, convener of North East Forum for International Solidarity (NEFIS), five people appeared on the terrace of Manipur Bhawan and started hurling bricks at the gathering. One of them hit a woman protester in the head, leading her to bleed profusely. Angered and agitated by this, the other protesters tried to storm Manipur Bhawan by breaking open the gate. At this point, the Delhi Police, which had been present all along but inactive till now, entered the action, raining lathis and batons on the gathered crowd.

The few media reports make it evident that several people — both protesters and police persons — were injured. One policeman was allegedly stabbed and a police van was damaged. However, exactly what led to a mostly peaceful protest turning into savage violence remains unclear.

Newslaundry got in touch with Vineet Joshi, the resident commissioner of Manipur in the capital. Asked if the protest turned violent because some people appeared on the terrace and started throwing bricks, Joshi said, “Nothing was thrown from the inside. For more details, ask the police.”

We spoke to the Station House Officer (SHO) of Chanakyapuri, one of the police stations from where reinforcements were called in to control the situation. At first, Banay Singh Meena denied there was a lathi charge. When told that there are media reports of the police action, he said the protesters were becoming violent. Asked how, the SHO hung up.

“At this point, we are trying to confirm what happened,” said Chinglen. “Some of the injured protesters have been discharged, others with more serious injuries are still in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. We [NEFIS] are trying to find out if there was any repression by the police, if the protesters were protesting peacefully and the police intentionally incited them so that they would react and there could be a crackdown.”

The police action was reported as early as Wednesday evening. Early Thursday morning, some very disturbing photos, originally posted by one Vijoo Krishnan posted on Facebook. Some of them are from the protest while others are of injuries that Krishnan says protestors sustained. Newslaundry could not independently verify the photographs and this article will be updated if we’re able to do so.

The photos, which show horrifyingly bruised bodies, started doing the rounds of social media. Meanwhile, allegations of women protesters being assaulted and molested also surfaced.

Is Delhi Police responsible for the violence and does this incident “reek of racism” as author and activist Binalakshmi Nepram alleged on social media? Was it instigated by people from within the Manipuri community and made worse by Delhi Police? These are important questions that need answers that neither the Delhi Police nor Manipur Bhawan seem ready to look for or provide. Instead of actually addressing the problem, the facts that an unspecified number of Indian citizens were savagely beaten and the authorities have no idea why this happened, is being brushed under the carpet of stock responses.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @causticji