Meitei, Kuki Police Recruits Form Strong Bond During Training In Assam, Say Will Work Together In Manipur

From breaking bread together to sharing light moments after a hard day in the field, 2,000-odd newly recruited Manipur Police personnel from various communities mingled freely and made good memories during their year-long rigorous training in Assam.

They will return to their violence-hit state with a message of peace and love.

A total of 1,946 Manipur Police recruits from the Meitei, Kuki, Naga, Muslim and other communities graduated from Lachit Borphukan Police Academy in Assam's Dergaon on Monday, strengthening the force in the violence-hit state.

The newly inducted personnel from different communities told NDTV in one voice that they undertook training like brothers since January this year and are now ready to serve Manipur together to spread the message of peace and love among the warring groups.

"We underwent training together here. The cadets comprised all communities living in Manipur including Meiteis, Kukis, Nagas, Muslims, Gorkhas and others," said S Premananda, a police recruit from Manipur's Meitei community.

During their stay at the Assam police academy, the cadets underwent intense physical training together.

"At times, we used to get disturbing news from our parents and relatives. Once we return home, we will try to solve the problems together. We are all ready to do our duties and stay together in Manipur," Mr Premananda said.

He said the trainees used to discuss problems faced by their people back home.

"This ongoing ethnic conflict should be over as soon as possible," he added.

Another Meitei cadet, Chirom Shekharjit Singh, said the men in uniform lived and ate together during the training programme. They said there has been absolutely no hatred towards fellow Kuki recruits, and the Meitei cadets also never faced any issue from them.

"There was absolutely no problem among the different communities during training here. There was no reflection of the problems back home on us during the training," he said.

On whether he will serve with Kuki personnel once they return home from Assam, Mr Singh said he does not know where he would be posted but he is ready to serve wherever the government sends him.

"We are ready to serve our state together," he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, a Kuki recruit from the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), P Kipgen, said recruits from all the communities have undergone training together and they will serve together once they return to Manipur.

"I am a Kuki from Kangpokpi district. We have undergone training with Meitei recruits and we had no issue at all. We had our drills together, had meals in the same dining hall and slept in the same barracks. There was no problem. I cannot say why problems are happening in Manipur. I strongly believe there should be peace in our state," he added.

The intensive 44-week basic training course for the Manipur Police recruits began at the academy in January. The ethnic distribution of the recruits was diverse with 62 per cent Meiteis, 12 per cent Kukis and the remaining 26 per cent belonging to Naga and other tribes.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who attended the passing out ceremony, said all the newly recruited cadets, including those from the  Meitei and Kuki communities, will be posted together as a "team" in an attempt to bring back peace.

MM Zulkib Mughal, a Muslim cadet from Manipur, said these personnel represented the entire state as the batch comprised people from all communities and they underwent training together.

"Here, we stayed as one unit and there was no problem between the Meitei and Kuki recruits. There was not even one fight between them. The situation in Manipur is also improving," he added.

Mr Mughal said he's hopeful that he and his teammates in Manipur Police will try their best to help improve the situation further.

"We don't need such fights in our state. We should stay together and peace should return as soon as possible. The state's development will be halted if such clashes go on," he said.

Meitei recruit Konthoujam Jimson said they represent all communities and love each other like brothers as they have joined the same community called 'policemen'.

"We are one community. I will happily work with my Kuki brothers in Manipur. We belong to the same community and have come forward for our motherland India. We are all the same," he said. "Whatever we did peacefully here, we will continue to do that and love each other once we return to Manipur. My message to the youth is to give priority to your state, always."

Kuki police recruit Thangtinsei said the training was positive and there was no discrimination among the cadets.

"I would not like to mention any community as everything was done as a team. Every personnel is physically and mentally ready, and everything is positive. I am feeling very proud that different communities are together, and completing the training was a great achievement," he said.

More than 250 people died and over 50,000 have been internally displaced in the Manipur ethnic violence.