Kartikshina85855 at 21:27, 30 April 2026

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{{Short description|Village in Manipur, India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Durgapur
| other_name = Lamtai Khunou
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Manipur#India
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Manipur, India
| coordinates = {{coord|24.5967|93.0969|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Manipur]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Jiribam district|Jiribam]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes = <ref name="Imphal East Census 2011"/>
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 = 236.5
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total = 434
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes = <ref name="Imphal East Census 2011"/>
| demographics_type1 = Language(s)
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Meitei language|Meitei]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code =
| registration_plate = MN
| website = {{URL|manipur.gov.in}}
| footnotes =
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 13
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
}}
'''Durgapur''' is a census village in the [[Borobekra subdivision]], [[Jiribam district]], [[Manipur]], [[India]].<ref name="Imphal East Census 2011">
{{citation |title=Imphal East District Census Handbook |publisher=Directorate of Census Operations, Manipur |year=2011 |url=https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s3a684eceee76fc522773286a895bc8436/uploads/2018/03/2018032977.pdf |page=92}}
</ref>
It is about 35 km south of [[Jiribam]], the headquarters of the district, close to the border with the [[Pherzawl district]] in the south. The village is on the bank of the [[Barak River]], spanning a narrow valley between two forested hilly areas. The Barak River flows north in this region, up to [[Jirimukh]], where it turns northwest. The Barak River also forms the border with the [[Assam]] state of India.

A Meitei village called '''Lamtai Khunou'''{{efn|Alternative spellings: "Lamdai Khunou", and "Laimatai".}} is seen to have sprung up in the area around 2010 and is now identified with the Durgapur village itself.<ref name="CNS 30 Mar"/> The neighbouring villages of Durgapur are '''Madhupur'''{{efn|Alternative spelling: "Modhupur".}} to the west and '''Choudhurikhal'''{{efn|Alternative spellings: "Chaudhurikhal" and "Chowdhurikhal".}} to the east. Choudhurikhal is the southernmost village of Jiribam district.

== Geography and History ==
The entire [[Vangaitang]] range adjacent to the present-day Jiribam district was part of the [[Dimasa Kingdom|Cachar kingdom]] at the beginning of the 19th century. After annexing the kingdom in 1832, the British transferred the Vangaitang range to Manipur, setting the border along the western stretch of Barak River{{efn|The Barak River flows south till [[Tipaimukh]] and then makes an almost 180°-bend to flow north till Jirimukh.}} and the Jiri River.<ref>
{{Citation |last=Sanjeev |first=Thingnam |chapter=Recasting Space: Politics of frontier-making |editor1=Arambam Noni |editor2=Kangujam Sanatomba |title=Colonialism and Resistance: Society and State in Manipur |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XTfbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA242 |year=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-27066-9 |page=243}}
</ref><ref>
{{Cite book |last=Goshwami |first=Hareshwar |title=History of the People of Manipur |publisher=YAOL |year=2019 |edition=Revised |isbn=978-1-9993057-0-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/hareshwar-goshwami-history-of-the-people-of-manipur |via=archive.org |pages=24–25, 251}}
</ref>
In 1907, the Manipur government opened the "Jiribam valley" between the rivers and the Vangaitang range for agricultural settlement,<ref>
{{citation |last=Harvey |first=C. W. L. |title=Administration Report of The Manipur State For The Year 1931-32 |publisher=The State Printing Press |location=Imphal |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.125395 |via=archive.org |page=44}}
</ref>
and, by 1911, 14,346 ''bighas'' of land is said to have been settled.<ref name="1911 annual report">
{{citation |last=Higgins |first=J. C. |title=Administration Report of The Manipur State For The Year 1911-12 |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Co |location=Calcutta |year=1912 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.125393 |via=archive.org |ref={{sfnref|Administration Report for 1911-12|1912}} |page=4}}
</ref>
Most of the settlers in Jiribam came from Cachar, very few from the [[Imphal Valley]] (Manipur valley).<ref>
{{citation |last=Harvey |first=C. W. L. |title=Administration Report of The Manipur State For The Year 1931-32 |publisher=The State Printing Press |location=Imphal |year=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.125395 |via=archive.org |page=55}}
</ref>
They included Bengalis as well as Meiteis. Rice and sugarcane were cultivated, and [[betel leaf]] (''pan'') in areas unsuitable for rice cultivation.<ref name="1911 annual report"/>

=== Independent India ===
Durgapur was an established settlement before the independence of India.<ref name="Gazette 1956">
{{citation |chapter=Notification No. IJ/2/56 |title=Manipur Gazette |date=16 August 1956 |pages=15–16 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.125722/page/n652 |via=archive.org}}
</ref>
Borobekra, to the north of Durgapur, was a market town that ran a Friday market, which was the main market for the people on the Barak River as far away as [[Pherzawl]].<ref>
{{citation |title=Village Survey Monograph: 16—Pherzawl |series=Census of India 1961 |publisher=Superintendent of Census Operations, Manipur |year=1965 |page=2 |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/32844/download/36025/51909_1961_PHE.pdf}}
</ref>{{efn|Pherzawl itself is not on the bank of the Barak River, but it could access the river through a port called Taithu-ghat nearby.}}

Initially, Jiribam subdivision was formed to encompass the Vangaitang range from the Jiri River in the north and [[Tipaimukh]] in the south. In due course, the southern and eastern hill regions were transferred to the [[Churachandpur district]] (now [[Pherzawl district]]), leaving only the valley and some of the foothills regions in the Jiribam subdivision.<ref>
{{citation |title=Manipur Administrative Atlas |publisher=Census of India, Government of India |year=2005 |url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/4393/1/50276_2001_ADM.pdf |pages=12–19}}
</ref>
The border between the Jiribam and Pherzawl districts runs near Chaudhurikhal, adjacent to Durgapur. [[Savomphai]] to its south lies in Pherzawl district.<ref>
{{citation |title=Churachandpur District Census Handbook |publisher=Directorate of Census Operations, Manipur |year=2011 |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/846/download/36252/DH_2011_1403_PART_A_DCHB_CHURACHANDPUR.pdf |page=92}}
</ref>

=== Insurgencies ===
According to multiple sources, the proscribed Meitei insurgent groups, [[United National Liberation Front]] (UNLF) and [[People's Liberation Army of Manipur]] (PLA), used the Jiribam valley and the neighbouring [[Cachar district]] of Assam as their main area of operations.<ref>
{{citation |title=North-East in Benthic Zone |first=Dhanabir |last=Laishram |publisher=Akansha Publishing House |year=2007 |isbn=9788183701143 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zbWfAAAAMAAJ |page=90 |quote=UNLF and PLA's main area of operation is Manipur's Jiribam valley and Cachar. In the recent past, a unified command of MPLF enduringly engaged with the Border Security Force in a gun-fight for four days in which the latter had to withdraw without attaining any significant result.}}
</ref><ref>
{{citation |first=Wasbir |last=Hussain |chapter=Ethno-Nationalism and the Politics of Terror in India's Northeast |editor1=P. R. Kumaraswamy |editor2=Ian Copland |title=South Asia: The Spectre of Terrorism |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781317967729 |page=89 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZceMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT89 |quote=Insurgent politics in the region registered a very important development in the year 2000—the signing of a deal for joint operations by the Assamese ULFA and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), a Manipuri insurgent group whose primary area of operation has been Manipur's Jiribam valley and neighbouring Assam's Cachar district.}}
</ref>
The region was originally used by Meitei insurgent groups in the 1960s as a launching pad to access the training camps run by [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI) in [[East Pakistan]] (present-day [[Bangladesh]]). With the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, this activity was briefly halted, but it resumed in 1975 with the advent of military rule in Bangladesh.<ref>
{{citation |first=Maloy Krishna |last=Dar |title=Fulcrum of Evil: ISI, CIA, Al Qaeda Nexus |publisher=Manas Publications |location=Delhi |year=2006 |isbn=81-7049-278-5 |page=108 |url=https://archive.org/details/fulcrumofevilisi0000dhar |via=archive.org |url-access=registration}}
</ref>

Security expert E. M. Rammohan states that the hilly region bounded by [[National Highway 37 (India)|NH-37]]{{efn|NH-37 was earlier called [[National Highway 53 (India, old numbering)|National Highway 53]].}} in the north, [[Thangjing Hills]] in the east, [[Tipaimukh Road]] in the south, and the Jiribam–Tipaimukh Road on the west, was a "free zone", with minimal presence of security forces, which was adopted by UNLF, PLA and [[Hmar People's Convention]]–Democracy for setting up camps and bases.<ref name="Rammohan">
{{citation |first=E. N. |last=Rammohan |title=Manipur: A degenerated insurgency |journal=USI Journal |date=April 2021 |url=https://usiofindia.org/publication/usi-journal/manipur-a-degenerated-insurgency/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425011633/https://usiofindia.org/publication/usi-journal/manipur-a-degenerated-insurgency/ |archive-date=25 April 2021}}
</ref>
The PLA and UNLF are said to have entered this area after the [[Kuki-Naga conflict in Manipur|Kuki-Naga conflict]] (in the 1990s) by helping resettle the displaced Kukis in [[Churachandpur district]] and obtaining land in return.<ref>
{{citation |first=Vivek |last=Chadha |title=Low Intensity Conflicts in India: An Analysis |publisher=SAGE |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7619-3325-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/lowintensityconf0000chad |via=archive.org |url-access=registration |pages=318–319}}
</ref>
Rammohan also states that HPC-Democracy was allied with UNLF.<ref name="Rammohan"/>

In the 1990s, UNLF is said to have forcibly driven out many Bengali residents of the Borobekra region, settling Meiteis in their place.<ref name="Kuthar"/> The local residents complain that around the year 2000, the people of Durgapur were evicted and had to leave for the [[Cachar district]] in Assam. Manipuris ([[Meitei people|Meiteis]]) that came from Bangladesh were settled down in these areas. They complained that even newly settled Meiteis were given land deeds (''pattas'') whereas the older settlers were denied land deeds.<ref name="Sentinel 27 Aug 2015">
[https://www.sentinelassam.com/more-news/national-news/jiribam-minorities-decry-manipur-governments-policy-on-ilp Jiribam minorities decry Manipur government's policy on ILP], The Sentinel, 27 August 2015. {{ProQuest|2272639115}}
</ref>
An organisation called Jiribam Development Organisation claimed credit for getting land deeds issued.<ref>
JDO appeals govt. to expedite unfinished projects in Jiribam, Imphal Free Press, 2 November 2014. {{ProQuest|1619094218}}
</ref>

=== Lamtai Khunou ===
A field visit by the [[Federation of Regional Indigenous Societies]] (FREINDS) to the region in 2011 mentioned a Meitei village called "Laimatai". According to the team, villages such as Durgapur and others were "full of Bangladesh Muslims, Bengalis and Bishnupriyas" but the lands owned by Meitei in Laimatai were not taken over by the "illegal migrants".<ref>
Imphal district swamped by illegal migrants, The Pioneer, 6 February 2011. {{ProQuest|849335379}}
</ref>{{efn|The ideology of the organisation regards only the Meiteis and tribals as "indigenous" to Manipur, and ignores the fact that the Jiribam was part of [[Cachar district|Cachar]] before it was transferred to Manipur in 1833.}}

In 2013, the name of the village was mentioned as Lamtai Khunou. In that year, an official of the Lamtai Khunou Youth Club stated that the village had no primary school, and that the children were having to go to Bengali medium schools. The villagers had a list of grievances against the government inaction in their village.<ref>
No sign of govt in the entire village lament Lamtai Khunou villagers, Imphal Free Press, 30 August 2013. {{ProQuest|1428798664}}
</ref>

By 2024, news sources began to identify Lamtai Khunou with the Durgapur village itself.<ref name="CNS 30 Mar">
[https://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=26..310324.mar24 IED blast destroys shop in Jiribam village, no casualty], Chronicle News Service, via e-pao.net, 30 March 2024.
</ref>
As per a news report in July 2024, there were 86 Meitei households in Lamtai Khunou.<ref name="Sangai 5 Jul">
[https://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=1..060724.jul24 Order of June 7 : Deceased cop found detailed for duty at Jiri; MHRC sounded to penalise DG, SA], The Sangai Express, via e-pao.net, 5 July 2024.
</ref>
Since the whole of Durgapur had only 93 households in the 2011 census,<ref name="Imphal East Census 2011"/> it would imply that Lamtai Khunou had become the predominant settlement in Durgapur. According to a social worker, 200 original families that had been driven out of Durgapur were living in Cachar as of 2015.<ref name="Sentinel 27 Aug 2015"/>

== Demographics ==
The Durgapur census village has a population of 434 people as per the 2011 census. It has no [[Scheduled Tribes]].<ref name="Imphal East Census 2011"/><ref name="Imphal East PCA">
{{cite web |title=Primary census abstract at town, village and ward level, Manipur - District Imphal East - 2011 |work=[[2011 Census of India]] |publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/6469 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107165932/https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/6469 |archive-date=7 January 2023}}
</ref>
The neighbouring village of Madhupur to the west has a population of 156 people, of whom only 5 belonged to Scheduled Tribes.<ref name="Imphal East Census 2011"/><ref name="Imphal East PCA"/>

The village of '''Choudhurikhal''' to the east of Durgapur has a population of 136 people, all of whom are Scheduled Tribes.<ref name="Imphal East Census 2011"/><ref name="Imphal East PCA"/>

== 2023–2025 Manipur violence ==
When the [[2023–2024 Manipur violence|ethnic conflict in Manipur]] erupted between the [[Meitei people|Meiteis]] and [[Kuki-Zo people]] on 3 May 2023, the Jiribam district remained relatively at peace for almost a year.<ref name="Kuthar">
Greeshma Kuthar, [https://caravanmagazine.in/conflict/manipur-violence-jiribam-district-hmar-assam-cachar Stagnant Strife: Disinformation draws Manipur’s last district into violence], The Caravan, 1 September 2024.
</ref>
Durgapur's Lamtai Khunou experienced an isolated instance of violence on 28 March 2024, when a bomb explosion damaged three shops owned by a businessman, with losses amounting to Rs. 10 lakh (1 million).<ref name="Sentinel 28 Mar">
[https://www.sentinelassam.com/north-east-india-news/manipur/manipur-violent-attack-damages-three-shops-in-manipur-second-incident-in-recent-months Manipur: Violent Attack Damages Three Shops in Manipur, Second Incident in Recent Months], The Sentinel, 28 March 2024. {{ProQuest|3013846713}}
</ref><ref name="CNS 30 Mar"/>
The perpetrators were never identified, but the [[Kuki Inpi]] of the region attributed the bombing to UNLF militants months later.<ref name="KIJTN">
[https://www.thehillsjournal.com/kuki-inpi-publishes-chronology-of-jiribam-violence-condemns-atrocities-by-meitei-radicals/ Kuki Inpi Publishes Chronology of Jiribam Violence, Condemns Atrocities by Meitei Radicals], The Hills Journal, 22 November 2024.
</ref>

The relative peace of Jiribam district was shattered by twin murders in May–June 2024, the first of a Kuki individual named Seigoulen Singson in May, and the second of a Meitei individual named Soibam Saratkumar Singh in June. Rumours spread that Saratkumar's body was founded beheaded, inflaming Meitei feelings. Meitei mobs led by [[Arambai Tenggol]] started torching houses in the Jiribam area, prompting the [[Hmar people|Hmars]] and [[Thadou Kukis]] to flee to relief camps in neighbouring Assam.<ref name="Kuthar"/>

This invited retaliation by Hmars and Thadou Kukis in the Borobekra subdivision in the south. On 6 June, the residents of Lamtai Khunou and other neighbouring Meitei villages heard that their villages were being surrounded by militants, and fled to the nearest police station. The district authorities evacuated 239 Meitei people to a shelter in a sports complex in [[Jiribam]].<ref name="Scroll 8 Jun">
[https://scroll.in/latest/1069012/ Manipur: Suspected militants set fire to houses, police outpost in Jiribam district], Scroll.in, 8 June 2024.
</ref><ref name="Hindu 10 Jun">
Abhinay Lakshman, [https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/in-manipurs-jiribam-some-flee-attacks-for-second-time-since-the-conflict-began-last-year/article68271228.ece In Manipur’s Jiribam, some flee attacks for second time since the conflict began in 2023], ''The Hindu'', 10 June 2024. {{ProQuest|3065774976}}
</ref><ref>
[https://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=35..100624.jun24 Heart-breaking to see homes reduced to ashes: Victim], Chronicle News Service, via e-pao.net, 9 June 2024.
</ref>
On 8 June, armed tribals (referred to as "suspected militants" in the media) set fire to several Meitei houses at Lamtai Khunou, Madhupur and other Meitei villages.<ref name="Kuthar 12 June">
Greeshma Kuthar, [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/12/peace-eludes-indias-manipur-even-after-defeating-bjp-over-ethnic-violence Peace eludes India’s Manipur even after defeating BJP over ethnic violence], Al Jazeera, 12 June 2024. {{ProQuest|3066606019}} "According to a statement by a Kuki-Zo group [the Indigenous Tribes Advocacy Committee], the burning of Lamtai Khunou and two other Meitei villages was termed as 'retribution against Arambai Tenggol who initiated these violent acts'. 'The tribals will no longer remain silent in the face of aggression,' it said."
</ref><Ref name="Sangai 17 Jun">
Jiri News Network, [https://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=5..180624.jun24 Many suspect agenda to cleanse Jiri of Meiteis], The Sangai Express, via e-pao.net, 17 June 2024.
</ref>
The displaced Meitei do not know whether they have houses to return to.<ref name="IE 11 Jun">
Sukrita Baruah, [https://indianexpress.com/article/india/manipur-assam-jiribum-violence-displacement-kukis-zo-tribe-9384585/ In Manipur, a fresh displacement as 2,000 pour into neighbouring Assam], The Indian Express, 11 June 2024.
</ref>

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://marsac.mn.gov.in/pdf/sub_division/SubDivision_BOROBEKRA.pdf Borobekra Subdivision], Manipur Remote Sensing Applications Centre, retrieved 8 November 2024.

[[Category:Villages in Jiribam district]]
[[Category:2023–2026 Manipur conflict]]

Durgapur Manipur - Revision history

Kartikshina85855 at 21:27, 30 April 2026