Fact Check: These women crying before Assam Rifles officials are Kuki, NOT Meitei

By Jyoti Dwivedi: A heart-wrenching video of a group of women crying before a uniformed officer has gone viral on social media. Allegedly, the women were Meitei Hindu women and they were begging army officials to not leave as they did not have faith in the state security forces. In the video, slogans like, “Assam Rifles, don’t leave us,” could be heard. An Instagram user shared the video and wrote, “Save Meitei Hindus.” Its archived version can be seen here.

India Today found that the viral video shows Kuki women pleading with Assam Rifles officials not to leave the area. They were protesting against the Centre’s plan to withdraw the Assam Rifles from the buffer zones in the Kangpokpi district.

Our Probe

Using a keyword search, we found that the incident seen in the viral video was reported in detail by The Telegraph on August 4, 2023. Per this report, the video shows Kuki-Zo women in the Kangpokpi district of Manipur requesting Assam Rifles troops not to leave a village located on the border of the Meitei-majority Imphal West because of the volatile situation in the buffer zone between the two districts. The buffer zone is a border between the Kuki and Meitei area, guarded by Central Security Forces.

Reportedly, the Kuki women staged a protest at Gamgiphai village after they came to know that the Assam Rifles personnel deployed in the peripheral area had been shifted to Churachandpur, over 110 km away, by the state government. They blocked the road so that the Assam Rifles personnel could not leave.

Lamminlun Singsit, secretary of the Kangpokpi-based Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), told The Telegraph, “There is a fear that removing central forces without adequate replacement will expose the area to attack from well-equipped Meitei militants.”

The Hindustan Times and Times Now also published reports about this incident. All the reports noted that the women seen crying in the video were Kuki.

Clues in the video

Using a keyword search, we found a longer version of the video. At around the 3.35-minute mark in this video, the Assam Rifles official could be heard saying, “And if we have to go to CC Pur (Churachandpur) tomorrow, it is to keep your community safe, it is already ensured that the Meiteis don't attack. And to keep the Meitei community also safe.”

It is likely that he meant Kuki when he said “your community” as referred to Meiteis separately next. Also, he said that it had been ensured that the Meiteis did not attack. Had the women seen in the viral video been Meiteis, he wouldn’t have spoken about ensuring their safety from the group.

Kuki leaders, journalists, security forces confirm

Ginza Vualzong, the official spokesperson of The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) confirmed to India Today that the video shows Kuki women from the Kangpokpi district of Manipur. “Assam Rifle officials were leaving which made them feel insecure. They do not trust the local police. The local police are not capable enough to resist militant attacks,” he said.

We also spoke to Haopu Gangte, the General Secretary of Kuki INPI, an organisation which describes itself as the apex body of Kuki Tribes. He said that the viral video shows Assam Rifles officials surrounded by Kuki women. “The video was recorded on the night of August 2 at around 2:00 am. The women were crying and pleading till dawn.

We spoke to two journalists from Manipur and they too said that the viral video shows Kuki women crying before the Assam Rifles officials. And finally, a spokesperson from the Assam Rifles also confirmed this to India Today.

As per a report by India Today North East, following the protests, the Centre halted plans of withdrawing Assam Rifles troops from the buffer zones.

Thus, it’s abundantly clear that the viral video did not show Meitei women pleading with army officials.