Manipur’s fragile peace needs more than guns
Peace in Manipur remains painfully fragile. More than three years after ethnic violence erupted between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities in May 2023, the state continues to oscillate between cautious optimism and renewed bloodshed. Although the intensity of violence has diminished in recent months, recurring incidents of killings, militant attacks, and deepening ethnic mistrust reveal that the underlying conflict remains unresolved. Manipur today stands at a decisive moment where the choice is no longer simply between peace and violence, but between genuine reconciliation and the institutionalisation of permanent division.
The recent killing of two children after an explosive projectile struck a house in Bishnupur district starkly demonstrated how quickly tensions can resurface. The incident triggered widespread protests, clashes with security forces, curfews, and internet restrictions, reviving memories of the devastating violence that has scarred the state since 2023. An equally disturbing development followed with the abduction and murder of six Naga civilians in Kangpokpi district. Their deaths have widened the scope of the crisis beyond the original Meitei-Kuki confrontation. The Nagas, who had largely remained outside the direct conflict, now find themselves increasingly drawn into an already volatile situation. The subsequent arrests may advance the criminal investigation, but they cannot erase the larger political implication-that Manipur now faces overlapping ethnic tensions involving three major communities, each carrying distinct historical grievances, territorial concerns, and political aspirations.
The roots of the conflict stretch back decades. Competing claims over land, identity, political representation, and administrative control have long shaped relations among Manipur’s communities. The Meitei demand for Scheduled Tribe status, the Kuki-Zo demand for a separate administrative arrangement, and the long-standing Naga political aspirations have created overlapping anxieties that successive governments failed to address effectively. The violence of 2023 merely exposed these unresolved contradictions with unprecedented brutality.
Its human cost has been immense. Around 260 people have lost their lives, while more than 60,000 were displaced from their homes. Entire neighbourhoods that once reflected Manipur’s diversity have become ethnically segregated, with heavily guarded buffer zones separating communities that previously lived side by side. Every passing month of separation makes reconciliation more difficult, allowing mistrust to harden into permanence.
Equally damaging has been the erosion of confidence in public institutions. The previous administration faced sustained criticism over allegations of partisan governance and its handling of the violence. Whatever the eventual verdict on individual allegations, public perception itself weakened faith in the state’s neutrality. President’s Rule temporarily filled the political vacuum before the new government, led by Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, assumed office in February 2026.
The new administration has attempted to signal a departure from the past. Its emphasis on dialogue and equal engagement with all communities, including the Chief Minister’s symbolic visit to Kuki-majority Churachandpur, represents an important political gesture. In a state where communication between communities had virtually collapsed, even symbolic outreach carries significance.
Thousands of firearms looted from police armouries during the initial phase of the conflict continue to circulate despite sustained recovery efforts. There are, however, encouraging signs. The surrender of dozens of cadres belonging to the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (People’s War Group), along with the surrender of arms and ammunition, suggests that sustained security pressure, combined with rehabilitation, can persuade militants to return to the democratic mainstream. Such developments provide hope, but they cannot be mistaken for a comprehensive solution.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to lasting peace is the enormous justice deficit. The Supreme Court’s recent concern over the slow pace of investigations into nearly 3,000 cases arising from the 2023 violence highlights the scale of the challenge. Investigations have progressed in only a small fraction of these cases, leaving victims waiting years for accountability. Justice delayed in such circumstances does not merely prolong suffering; it reinforces perceptions that the state is either unwilling or unable to protect its citizens impartially.
For reconciliation to succeed, every community must be confident that crimes-including murder, arson, sexual violence, abduction, and intimidation-will be investigated without regard to the identity of either the victim or the perpetrator.
The Centre, too, has an indispensable role. Manipur’s crisis has outgrown the limits of an ordinary law-and-order problem. A structured political dialogue involving Meitei, Kuki-Zo, and Naga representatives must become a sustained institutional process rather than an ad hoc response to every fresh outbreak of violence. Civil society organisations should all be integrated into a broader framework of reconciliation. Peace negotiated solely at the political level cannot endure unless communities themselves begin rebuilding trust.
Rehabilitation of displaced families must also become a central priority. Peace cannot be measured solely by declining casualty figures while thousands remain unable to return home. Safe resettlement, reconstruction of destroyed homes, restoration of livelihoods, reopening of schools, and revival of economic activity are equally important indicators of genuine normalcy. Manipur’s strategic location along the India-Myanmar border further elevates the importance of stability. Persistent unrest not only strengthens insurgent networks and facilitates cross-border movement of weapons but also threatens India’s broader security interests and its Act East Policy. Manipur’s tragedy is that every community carries genuine grievances, while every new act of violence creates another generation of victims. Breaking this cycle requires far more than military deployments or temporary ceasefires. It demands a comprehensive strategy combining impartial security operations, timely justice, political dialogue, rehabilitation, and genuine reconciliation. The recent surrender of militants, renewed political engagement, and judicial scrutiny of delayed investigations offer reasons for cautious optimism. Yet these positive developments remain overshadowed by recurring violence and persistent mistrust. Lasting peace will not be achieved until displaced families return home without fear, communities interact freely across ethnic lines, victims receive justice regardless of identity, and citizens once again trust the state more than armed groups.
The writer is the Deputy Director, Assam Information Centre, New Delhi; Views presented are personal.
