1993 Pangal massacre

1993 riot in Manipur, India December 2021 1993 Pangal massacre Meitei–Pangal clash Religious violence in India India Manipur#India Location of Lilong Bridge 3–4 May 1993 Imphal Valley, Manipur, India 24.72046 93.94098 Lilong Bridge Rumours, land issues, suspicions of illegal immigration stabbing, burning alive, arson Meiteis Poramelan Apunba People's Republican Army Meitei Pangals (Meitei Muslims) 4 killed 96–130 killed 100–130 300 3000 423 The 1993 Pangal massacre, also called Meitei–Pangal clash,Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 59 in the state of Manipur, India, involved the killing of over 100 Meitei Pangals, including 20 women and children, at the hands of the Meitei community members, during 3–4 May 1993.Reuters, 100 killed as fresh clashes rock India, Toronto Star, 4 May 1993. 436851184Hazarika Sanjoy Hindu-Muslim Riots Kill more than 100 in India 5 May 1003 New York Times News Service Chicago Tribune https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-05-05-9305050344-story.html https://web.archive.org/web/20190901071127/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-05-05-9305050344-story.html 1 September 2019 109026877Khulakfam Altab Ali Manipur at a Glance An Ethnics Dilemma Part 2 e-pao.net 13 June 2019 https://e-pao.net/epSubPageExtractor.asp?src=education.Scientific_Papers.Manipur_at_a_Glance_An_Ethnics_Dilemma_Part_2_By_Khulakfam_Altab_Ali Background Meitei Pangals represent an "indigenised" Muslim community of Manipur, who speak the native Meitei language and have a consistent record of participating in the political processes of Manipur. However, some tensions between the Meitei community and the Pangals emerged in the years before 1993, caused by Meitei revivalism and anti-minority sentiments resulting from alleged Bangladeshi settlements in Jiribam.Verghese, India's Northeast Resurgent 1996 122 The former leader of the Meitei nationalist insurgent group People's Liberation Army (PLA), N. Bisheshwar Singh, who had been captured by Indian security forces and was out on bail, founded an organisation called Poramelan Apunba in 1992.Alternative spellings: Puramlan Apunba,Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 71 Poromlen Apunba, and Poramlen Apunba. The organisation initially targeted the "outsiders" in Manipur (Indian settlers, called mayangs in Meitei language), but after having formed an alliance with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), changed its target to the Meitei Pangals.Ahmed Farzand Naga-Kuki clash: Communal riots rouse temperatures in Manipur https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19930531-naga-kuki-clash-communal-riots-rouse-temperatures-in-manipur-811135-1993-05-31 India Today 31 May 1993Sahni Ajay Survey of Conflicts & Resolution in India's Northeast Faultlines 12 May 2002 https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/faultlines/volume12/article3.htm According to India Today, it had the goal of driving the Meitei Pangals out of the Imphal Valley. It had demanded to build a Meitei temple at the Chingei Ching hillock,The survey map shows Chingei Ching within the Lilong Pt village at roughly the coordinates 24.6835 93.9443 Chingkham Hill.Thoubal District Census Handbook 2011 80 However, in other maps the hill is called "Chingkham Hill". There is another hill to the south of it, which is marked as "Chingjao Hill", which has an idgah and a burial ground. on a site claimed by local Pangals as their burial ground.Verghese, India's Northeast Resurgent 1996 122 Also involved in the tensions was the newly formed People's Republican Army (PRA), a splinter group of PLA set up by its dissidents. It is said to have had the goal of countering PLA.Sahni Ajay Survey of Conflicts & Resolution in India's Northeast Faultlines 12 May 2002 https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/faultlines/volume12/article3.htm The PRA was set up in the early nineteen nineties by a PLA dissenter, Prakash, who had earlier surrendered to the authorities. PRA came into being with the primary objective of countering PLA. The two splinter groups appear to have had bad blood between them.Verghese, India's Northeast Resurgent 1996 p. 122: "The Poramlan Apunba, according to news reports, said that a newly-formed People's Republican Army, which came into being to counter the PLA, was involved in the clashes." Initial incident On 1 May 1993, three Meitei youth belonging to People's Republican Army went to Lilong Sambrukhong, a village in Thoubal district in the Pangal-dominated Lilong area, to meet a gun-runner for collecting promised items. An argument developed and turned into a scuffle, leading the villagers to come to the aid of the Pangal man. The Meitei youth were allegedly roughed up,Tarapot, Bleeding Manipur 2003 219–220 after which the villagers handed them over to the security personnel of a local politician. They were detained for some time and then released without any further enquiries.Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 59–60 Meanwhile rumours started circulating in the neighbouring Meitei-inhabited areas of Lilong in the Imphal West district that the Meitei youth were severely beaten up by the Pangals and one of them succumbed to the injuries.Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008 216–217Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 59–60 Communalism Combat reported that a "Boycott Muslim Day" was observed the following day (2 May), instigated by Poromalen Apunba.Beyond borders, Communalism Combat, October 1993. Republished as "A bloody route to power", Sabrangindia.in, 21 April 2016. Rumours were spread claiming that Meitei college students, including girls, were taken hostage and that many Meiteis were killed with their bodies being thrown into the river.Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008 224 Even the police wireless network relayed the rumours. Violence On 3 May, a clash developed near the Lilong bridge that separates the Meitei- and Pangal-dominated areas of Lilong, which was described as a "pitched battle" between the Meiteis and Pangals.Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 59–60 According to former IPS officer John Shilshi, senior officials reached the spot, but even as they were conferring, one man among the warring groups was killed, probably Meitei.Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 59–60 The incident led to further rumours, which took on "alarming proportions" according to commentators.Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008 224 Violence spread to the Imphal City, which is some 13 km away from Lilong, and the Pangals living or working there were targeted. Crowds slaughtered Pangal rickshaw pullers, pedestrians, bus passengers, and burned their homes and shops. Most victims were stabbed or burned alive, according to the state police chief Alfred Liddle. Four students and an employee of the Manipur University were burned alive, according to a government spokesman.Reuters, 25 killed, 100 hurt in India riot, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 1993. 283495506 Pangals travelling in buses were pulled down and hacked.Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 61, 62 They included women with babies in arms, according to a video report from the Hindustan Times Group. One bus was set alight with Pangal passengers locked inside, with sixty people dying in just this one incident.Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 62–63 Violence continued on 4 May, despite a curfew having been declared in the Imphal and Thoubal districts. Villages were torched and hundreds of residents wounded. The New York Times also revealed that at least 20 women and children had died in the violence. 3,000 people were reported to have been displaced and taking shelter in government camps.Associated Press, Indians seek to avoid riots, Las Vegas Review, 5 May 1993. 259941842 The official death toll was 96 Pangals and 4 Meiteis having been killed. But Pangals have reported 130 people having died, and called it a "genocide".Syed Ali Mujtaba, The plight of Meitei Pangals or Manipur Muslims remains unheard, The Milli Gazette, 27 May 2023.Dutta Anuradha Bhuyan Ratna Women and Peace: Chapters from Northeast India 2008 Akansha Publishing House 9788183701266 78 https://books.google.com/books?id=dugjAQAAIAAJ&q=1993+pangal+meitei+massacre Some 300 people were reported injured. The state's top civil servant was reported as admitting, "I am ashamed to talk about the gruesome manner in which [the victims] were killed". Aftermath The government brought the situation under control by 5 May. Some 200 people were arrested by 5 May, with the eventual number climbing to 423 persons. Over 100 police cases were registered. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Rajesh Pilot, visited Imphal to take stock. He criticised the state government's handling of the situation. The Organiser (magazine) magazine associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) published an analysis towards the end of May, claiming that illegal immigration into Manipur and its "Bangaldeshisation" were the causes of the violence. It put the blame on the votebank policies of the ruling Indian National Congress government in allowing "massive infiltration of Bangladeshis".Bangladeshization: The Genesis of the Manipur Rioting (retitled as "Illegal Immigration Seen Cause Of Riots in Manipur") Organiser 30 May 1993 16–18 https://archive.org/details/jprs-report_jprs-nea-93-094/page/16/mode/1up Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS), archive.org In contrast Lt. Gen. V. K. Nayar, who was appointed as the Governor in August 1993, alleged that the state's chief minister R. K. Dorendra Singh was supporting Meitei extremist groups and recommended the imposition of President's Rule. In any event, Dorendra Singh government collapsed in December 1993, and President's Rule was imposed, which lasted roughly a year.S. P. Sinha Lost Opportunities: 50 Years of Insurgency in the North-east and India's Response Lancer Publishers & Distributors 2007 81-7062-162-3 https://archive.org/details/lostopportunitie0000sinh archive.org registration 118, 121 The Meitei community rallied to support the victims of the violence, lending a helping hand to rehabilitate them. However their enthusiasm was short-lived. A scholar researching the aftermath noticed villagers living in temporary tents even a decade after the clashes.Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008 220–221 The relief assistance promised to the victims by the government also appeared not to have reached them.Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008 pp. 220–221: "They also sent a formal intimation to the concerned relief commissioner and District Commissioner (DC) but no response in the form of financial or material help has come from them."Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008 pp. 223–224: "For example, even though they have been promised five bundles of corrugated galvanized iron (C.G.I) sheets to help them construct their houses, more than half of the households are still not getting these sheets. Many have already given up hopes of getting it." The Sunday magazine commented in 1995 that the 1993 riots appeared to have made the Meitei–Pangal divide unbridgeable.Bhaumik Subir A State Adrift Sunday 26 March 1995 22–23 https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.20999/page/n1124 archive.org According to an official of the Indian Government, around 100 people died in the riots. The commission called for increased security and increasing the compensation award to the victims.Report of Justice D. M. Sen Commission of Inquiry Report of Working Group of National Integration Council to Study Reports of the Commissions of Inquiry on Communal Riots Ministry of Home Affairs 2007 78–80 https://mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/NIC-W-Group.pdf The Pangal (Manipuri Muslim) Political Forum claimed 140 people were killed. After the Government of India awarded compensation to the victims of the 1984 Punjab riots, the Pangal (Manipuri Muslim) Political Forum demanded compensation from the government in January 2015 at the Manipur Press Club.Muslim body seeks compensation for 1993 Meitei-Meitei Pangal riot victims Imphal Free Press 11 January 2015 1644387486 Legacy The date of 3 May 1993 is marked as a Black Day/Sahidee Memorial Day by the Pangals. Observances are held by the All Manipur Muslim Students’ Organization, the Pangal (Manipur Muslim) Political Forum, and the All Manipur Muslim Girl Students’ Organization.Muslims offer prayers for those killed in the 1993 riot in Manipur http://twocircles.net/2013may05/muslims_offer_prayers_those_killed_1993_riot_manipur.html 1 September 2019 TwoCircles.net Harsh Mander referred to the incident as the "first Major rupture" in communal relations in the Manipur State.Mander Harsh Lynching of young Muslim entrepreneur in Manipur last year shows such acts are carefully planned https://scroll.in/article/924029/lynching-of-young-muslim-entrepreneur-in-manipur-last-year-shows-such-acts-are-carefully-planned 1 September 2019 Scroll.in Scroll India Notes References Bibliography S. Mangi Singh A Case Study of the May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi Samir Kumar Das Blisters on their feet : Tales of internally displaced persons in India's North East SAGE 2008 https://archive.org/details/blistersontheirf0000unse archive.org registration Mangi Singh, May 1993 Riot Victims of Purum Pangaltabi 2008 John S. Shilshi Vale of Tears - untold stories of violence in Manipur Blue Rose Publishers 2020 https://books.google.com/books?id=A-_4DwAAQBAJ Shilshi, Vale of Tears 2020 Tarapot Phanjoubam Bleeding Manipur https://books.google.com/books?id=FsUJ0E3BXkMC 2003 Har-Anand Publications 978-81-241-0902-1 Tarapot, Bleeding Manipur 2003 Verghese B. G. India's Northeast Resurgent: Ethnicity, Insurgency, Governance, Development https://books.google.com/books?id=STBuAAAAMAAJ 1996 Konark Publishers Verghese, India's Northeast Resurgent 1996 Thoubal District Census Handbook Directorate of Census Operations, Manipur 2011 https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/856/download/36292/DH_2011_1405_PART_A_DCHB_THOUBAL.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20230813170331/https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/856/download/36292/DH_2011_1405_PART_A_DCHB_THOUBAL.pdf 13 August 2023 Thoubal District Census Handbook 2011 Category:1993 in Islam Category:1993 riots 1993 Category:20th-century mass murders in India Category:Religious riots in India Category:May 1993 in India Category:1993 mass murders Category:Arson attacks on buses Category:1993 murders in India Category:Meitei Pangals Category:1990s in Manipur Category:Arson attacks on vehicles in India Category:Bus incidents in India Category:1993 road incidents Category:Land disputes Category:Arson in 1993 Category:1990s fires in Asia Category:Massacres of Muslims in India Category:Massacres of Muslims