By Krishna Jha
Manipur, a remote eastern state of our country, is in the grip of continual ethnic violence for more than three years. For every moment, deadly ambushes, abductions and protest marches have become the realities of the region and making the violence into a way of life for them. The state is deeply divided in several zones. Recently several from Naga community were abducted and the mutilated bodies of two of them were found.
In the past few weeks, the fighting between the Meitei and Kuki people has got involved a third ethnic group, the Nagas. Kukis have clashed with Nagas in the hills of Manipur, amid disputes over rights of residence and control of the territory. More than a dozen people have been killed, including three Kuki church leaders who were shot in an ambush on May 13. Dozens have been kidnapped.
It is the most violent outburst in that region of the state since May, 2023, when clashes between the Kukis and the Meiteis killed hundreds. Central government sent in paramilitary troops to suppress the fighting, which they achieved by severing the state into parts.
The Meitei people, mostly inhabiting the state capital, Imphal, and the surrounding plains, remain at war with the Kuki people, who mostly live in the hills. Each group has established safe areas behind battle lines, and tens of thousands have been displaced. They frequently blame each other for outbreaks of violence.
Up and down India’s National Highway 2 to Manipur, there are countless roadblocks with armed guards, broad no-go zones between barbed-wire fences, and the constant threat of attack.
Tens of thousands had settled constricted by the Meitei-Kuki conflict, with the government handing out roughly a dollar a day to those registered as internally displaced.
This is the gravest crisis in the state since the swearing-in of chief minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on February 4, 2024, and the lifting of President’s Rule on February 13, which restored popularly elected democratic government to the state that reeled under violence since May 2023, when ethnic clashes first broke out between the dominant Meitei and tribal Kuki communities. Since then, almost every community has been engulfed by the spiralling violence that led to a complete breakdown of law and order, the creation of ethnic enclaves, the displacement of 60,000 people, and a virtual bifurcation of the state. Since May 13, amid escalating tensions between the Naga and Kuki communities, twin ambush incidents have taken place, killing a total of four civilians, including one Naga man and three church leaders.
It is now little more than three years for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruling the state of Manipur. It is also three years of turning the state into a land of the dead…Children snatched from mother’s arms and thrown in blazing flames. Women unrobed publicly in broad daylight and molested. Homes turned into ashes. Hunger ruling the roost. With blatant clarity, facts point towards the failure of the Manipur state government to quench the violence, prevent displacement, and protect human rights. Since May 3, 2023, at least 200 people have been killed and more than 60,000 had to leave their roots and look for new shelters. Businesses, villages, and places of worship have been destroyed. They stand burnt, attacked, looted, and vandalized.
The adversity of the situation is so horrific that the state government had to accept the fact that they have proved themselves unable to restore order. The result was imposition of President’s rule in 2025. On February 4, 2026, the measure was revoked and Yumnam Khemchand Singh became chief minister of Manipur. But it was no consolation since violence and insecurity continued under the new administration too.
“The armed vigilante groups responsible for these abductions must immediately release all hostages and provide information on the fate and whereabouts of those still missing. Civilians must never be targeted, abducted, or used as leverage in ethnic or political disputes. Families have the right to know where their loved ones are and to communicate with them without delay,” said the Chair of Board, Amnesty International India, recently.
“Authorities in Manipur must take urgent and effective measures to secure the safe release of all those held, guarantee their protection, and conduct prompt, independent and impartial investigations into all reported abductions and related abuses,” stressed the Chair of Board.
There are hostages taken by armed groups. Recently twenty people have been victims of such barbarity. They are mostly from the Kuki and Naga communities in Manipur following growing inter-ethnic tensions that is worsening security crisis across the state’s hill districts.
Hostage-taking and the abduction of civilians are prohibited by international law and may amount to crimes under international law. The continued abduction of civilians and the recurrence of ethnic violence underscore the failure of authorities in Manipur to establish security, uphold the rule of law, ensure justice, truth and reparation, and protect human rights.
“The Manipur government must move beyond reactive measures and take urgent, concrete steps to protect civilians, ensure justice, truth and reparation for crimes and abuses committed by all sides, and address the underlying drivers of the conflict,” said the Amnesty International.
The Centre’s insensitivity to the continuing violence is obvious by the fact that the prime minister visited Manipur only for a few hours in September last year and his government, with extreme passivity has continued to maintain that most of the killings took place in the initial weeks of the violence in 2023.
It is unfortunate that while Manipur is aflame for almost more than three years, the entire establishment remains oblivious to the deadly violence faced by innocent victims without any respite. (IPA Service)
