'They tortured him like an animal': How ethnic clashes in India are tearing apart two communities

Video report by John Ray and words by Sanjay Jha, ITV News, in Imphal, India

Ethnic and religious clashes between two communities in India have brought the north-eastern state of Manipur to the brink of civil war, leaving more than 180 people dead, hundreds hospitalised and around 60,000 displaced.

The mainly Hindu Meitei majority and the predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo - who account for 115 of the dead - have waged war against each other after a court ruling granted the majority Meitei “scheduled tribal status”, entitling them to the same economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education as the minority Kuki.

It also allowed the Meiteis to buy land in the hills, where the Kukis predominately live, further fuelling fears that their lands, jobs and opportunities would be taken away.

The ruling has led to more than three months of mass violent protests by the Kuki community, with demonstrators setting fire to vehicles and buildings, and in retaliation, Meitei mobs armed with guns and petrol cans attacked Kuki-Zo settlements in the hills.

As the ethnic clashes spread, village after village have been burnt down and hundreds of religious places were destroyed by both sides.

The state has been deeply fractured on ethnic lines, with rival Meitei and Kuki-Zo militias setting up blockades to keep out the opposing side, with the Meiteis in the valley and the Kukis in the hills, defending their territory against violent mobs, and a buffer zone created in the middle by Indian security forces.

Fear for life is so severe that drivers can’t enter into the opposing zones. Only Muslim drivers can freely enter both sides.

A 31-year-old Kuki man, David Tuolor, was brutally tortured, chopped to pieces, and had his head mounted on a spike by a mob in Manipur's Churachandpur on July 4, after trying to protect his house from being looted.

“That night when they attacked, he was staying at home... they caught him and tortured him, they tortured him in a way we wouldn’t even torture animals," said Emelyn Ramthalen, David's sister.

"They were cutting off his hands, his head, everything, they tortured him like animals. We didn’t even see his head. They started burning houses."

“It’s a brutal murder, taking heads... like our forefathers used to do. Taking a head is like a trophy of victory - the world is ours. Victory is ours,” she added.

Even one month on from her brother's killing, Emelyn's family has not been able to return to the village.

David’s head was left mounted on a bamboo spike and his body was burnt to ashes. Only a few bones were recovered by those who returned to the spot.

“There is no future for us. We don’t have a future anymore," said Emelyn. "What kind of government is this, what kind of society is this - murdering humans? Manipur is a nice place but right now for us there is no more hope. We are stuck here. There's only a future economic crisis. It’s like taking our heads off."

Even after three months of clashes, there is still no sign of normality and both communities are baying for blood.

Last week, three people from the Meitei community were killed in the early hours of Saturday while they were sleeping inside their homes by suspected Kuki community members.

Yumnam Sunita, whose husband Yumnam Jiten, was murdered, recounted: “Kuki people quietly entered the two houses of the village and killed my husband and our two neighbours.

"I am staying with my two daughters and son at a relief camp and he was staying back to protect our house and crops. But these Kuki people - they shot him in the head and threw the body outside our house.”

The bodies of the many killed tribal members, like David, are decaying in the morgues of local hospitals in Churachandpur.

The Kukis are demanding the burials take place on government land - but the majority Meitei community are against this and have filed a court case seeking that the burials be stopped on the grounds that they would take place on government property.

The Christian Kuki-Zo, who usually live in scattered settlements in the hilly areas of Manipur, are calling for a separate Kuki administration in Manipur but the Meitei, who are predominantly Hindus and largely live in the capital Imphal, have rejected those calls.

Olivia Keisisam is a housewife who is protesting on the streets of Imphal against the killing of her community member and the imbroglio of Manipur.

“In Manipur, Meitei are the mothers of the land only and our own people are suffering. They have become refugees in their own land and have been forced to live in relief camps,” she said.

“We don’t want separation in Manipur, we don’t want separation of India, we only want peace and no separation of Manipur as it is our motherland,” Olivia added.

With no sign of Manipur's ethnic clashes drawing to a close nor authorities gaining control of the situation, India's Supreme Court has now intervened and will monitor investigations into the fighting.

The Indian government has been approached for comment.

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