Buddies in the barracks and outside

A prosthetics camp revealed an unwavering spirit of Kukis and Meiteis to sacrifice for each other.
| Photo Credit: SREEJITH R. KUMAR

The other day, I got a monthly call from my two civil friends from Manipur, a Kuki and a Meitei. They had struck an emotional chord with me during my two-year command of the Churachandpur-based 27 Sector of the Assam Rifles in the capacity of Deputy Inspector-General from 2013. Both had been beneficiaries of the artificial limb, widely known as the “Jaipur foot”. After a brief tete-a-tete with them, a wave of nostalgia washed over me recollecting a free artificial limb camp organised in collaboration with Shree Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Jaipur.

I vividly recall my first day in office when my staff took me around the Sector headquarters premises. Though there is no discrimination based on community in the Army or Assam Rifles, I found the bonhomie between Kuki and Meitei soldiers not up to the desired level. I found one barracks Kuki-dominated, while the other was largely of Meiteis. It somehow did not gel with my grooming and ethos of my parent battalion, 27 Punjab, which was the pilot project for a mixed battalion of Sikhs, Dogras and the Other Indian Classes.

As a Commander, I was determined to break the ice between Kukis and Meiteis. I decided to implement the time-tested standing operating procedure of the buddy system, though a hybrid one — the buddy pair to have one Kuki and one Meitei each.

Just to set an example, I set the ball rolling with my Commander’s secretariat. I selected a Kuki as my PA and a Meitei as my radio operator. I organised all the soldiers of the Sector HQ into hybrid buddy pairs. Every soldier is supposed to remain with his buddy 24×7 whether during operations or having food. Within a week, I could sense the bonds strengthening between both communities. Witnessing the success of this pilot project at the Sector HQ, I enforced the same SOP in all the six battalions under my command. I recount how in one deadly ambush, a Kuki scout was instrumental in saving the life of his Meitei buddy scout by charging at the militants while firing a fusillade from his AK-47.

This inflection point snowballed into conviviality between the Kuki and Meitei villages. The festivals of Kukis and Meiteis were jointly celebrated with equal gusto and fervour.

Back to the artificial limb camp. Despite catering for some reserve limbs on the last day, we were left with just six artificial limbs while we had 12 beneficiaries — six Kukis and six Meiteis — still on the waiting list. My staff was in a quandary with anxiety writ large on their faces for fear of favouring a particular community. I advised them to keep a cool head and just identify the most needy three Kukis and three Meiteis.

The next morning, we tried to identify the six most deserving cases. Suddenly, I saw an aged Kuki walk up to us with a pensive look. “Sir, let all these six Meitei people take the ‘Jaipur foot’ as they are quite young. We have already lived our lives,” the septuagenarian sporting an off-kilter hat said in a gravelly voice. His words had tugged at my heartstrings which left me utterly dumbfounded. Meiteis who were overhearing politely declined.

I immediately dialled the top man of the Jaipur samiti and made a frantic request for an additional six prosthetic limbs. Thankfully, he sent them on the flight the next day. Finally, all the 12 beneficiaries left the camp happily walking confidently on their own.

The unwavering spirit of both communities to sacrifice for each other remains etched in my mind. Against the backdrop of the now strife-torn Manipur, I pray for those times to come back.

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