In strife-torn Manipur, youngsters take up arms to 'protect' villages
Manipur's Koutruk village. Their objective: Keep residents safe from the warring factions of Meitei and Kuki, two communities that have been in conflict since last year. These youngsters, mostly in their late 20s and early 30s, identify themselves as volunteers and say they have taken up the responsibility to keep their own safe as security forces «could not do enough to protect us».
Kotruk in the Imphal Valley is one of the many villages in the state that is «protected» by groups which go by the names «Village Volunteers», «Village Volunteer Force», «Village Defence Force» and «Village Protection Force».
These groups, officials say, are not associated with any security agency or the armed forces.
Trained in basic combat tactics, the village forces have vowed to keep their areas safe from the ethnic violence that has left many dead, injured and displaced.
Their presence in villages in the valley and Churachandpur in the hills cannot be missed. They are in uniform and can be spotted manning bunkers made of sandbags or patrolling with weapons, including sticks, batons and rifles — some country-made, and some stolen or smuggled.
Patrolling duties are assigned through a roster system. Each shift is between six and seven hours with small groups of five to six sent out to keep a watch on highways, village roads and narrow pathways that pass through hills and dense forests.
«Clearly our (security) forces could not do enough to protect us. Now, we know that they cannot be trusted with the task of ensuring our safety.
