Manipur: Condition Tricky; Chorus for President’s Rule Resurfaces

Kolkata: It is May again. On May 3, 2023, Manipur was witness to an outbreak of ethnic conflict between the Valley-based Meiteis and the hills-based Kuki-Zo tribals that raged for a long while, devastating the small North-Eastern state.

This time around, May 13, Wednesday, saw the eruption of conflict between Kukis and Nagas, culminating in ambush and abduction by both sides. This is not to suggest that it was all peace between them before May 13.

There have been simmering tensions and allegations and counter-allegations in the Kuki-Zo-majority Kangpokpi district earlier too. On January 26, when some some Kuki-Zo houses were burnt, the responsibility for which was owned by a Naga insurgent group faction known as Zeliangrong United Front, which contended structures used for illegal poppy farming were destroyed.

This happened in the midst of a two week-long blockade of a road used by Kuki-Zos to move between Kangpokpi and Churachandpur, their strongholds. People from both sides accused each other of “encroaching” on their respective “ancestral lands”. But, for once, good sense dawned on tribal leaders. Representatives of their apex outfits – United Naga Counci (UNC)l and Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) – met at Churachandpur on January 27 and urged their respective community members to refrain from any form of violence. But this understanding was short-lived and on February 7, at Litan Sareikhong village in Naga-dominated Ukhrul district, matters deteriorated over a drunken brawl among community youths. A Tangkhul Naga was assaulted by a Kuki youth. Since then, fresh tensions caused incidents of violence that culminated in ambush and abduction.

The districts most affected were Kangpokpi and Naga-majority Ukhrul. The other districts, which too faced similar situations but, perhaps, to a lesser extent were Kuki-Zo strongholds of Churchandpur and Naga majority Noney and Kamjong. The narrated incidents may be seen as the context of and cause for the inter-tribal conflicts assuming serious proportions on May 13. Law and order remain a casualty and the government which assumed office on February 4, remains clueless on how normalcy can return to Manipur.

On May 14 and 15, after visiting the affected areas and those undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical at Porompot in Imphal East, the state’s home minister Govindas Konthoujam lamented: “Such incidents continuing in the state are highly condemnable. How long will things last like this? We [seem to] have a very suspicious mind. There are some who do not want to restore peace in the state”. [Manipur was under President’s Rule for 356 days with effect from Thursday, February 13, 2025].  

In the overwhelmingly Christian populated hills, the Kuki-Zos outnumber other tribes in five districts. The Nagas are in majority in five other districts. Any untoward situation in which pastors and other church post holders are victims, instantly evokes strong reactions and widespread condemnation.

May 13 proved fateful, as three pastors were killed. Kuki-Zos claimed they belong to their tribes and alleged that the killers belonged to the armed Naga group, Zeliangrong United Front, but one faction of ZUF (Kamson) denied the allegation. Within hours of the Christian religious leaders’ killing, a Chiru tribe Naga was shot dead in Noney district. The Nagas claimed it was the handiwork, in retaliation, of Kuki-Zo militants. But there is more to it.

The Thadou tribe outfits have claimed that the killed pastors belonged to the Thadou Baptist Church and used to the occasion to reiterate that Thadou is not Kuki, “neither underneath, nor part of Kuki, but an independent, indigenous people. The imposed foreign term, Kuki, has no relevance to Thadous.”

Thus, what has been happening in Manipur since May 13 qualifies to be described as ‘inter-tribal’ conflict. If on and from May 3, 2023, two fronts – Meiteis and Kuki-Zos -- emerged with strong identity, the current conflict marks the emergence of a third front in strife-scarred Manipur, accentuating the challenge for the government headed by Yunam Khemchand Singh.

With strenuous efforts and the involvement of civil society organisations (CSOs), out of the 40 plus people held hostage by the Kukis and the Nagas, 28 -- 14 from each side -- have been released in what has been termed as ‘hostage for hostage’ exchange. The security agencies naturally were in the picture.

At a meeting with UNC representatives on May 23, the Chief Minister informed them about the abduction of six Naga persons from Konsakhul village in Kangpokpi district, who would be handed over to the National Investigation Agency, as had been done in the case of the killing of three pastors.

As part of its pressure tactics to secure the release of 14 Kukis, including three minor students, who it claims to have been abducted by Nagas, it organised shutdowns, at times extending the duration, “in the larger interest of safeguarding the rights, dignity and future of the Kuki-Zo community”.

What is of greater significance is that the organisations of the Nagas in Manipur and Kuki-Zos also brought the situation to the notice of the higher authorities in New Delhi and held protests to voice their demands, which reflected their strong indignation over certain actions of the Centre as also their inaction over matters remaining unresolved.

For example, Naga outfits, in a memorandum dated May 9, 2026, to the Prime Minister, pleaded that the Centre rein in Kuki armed groups operating under the Suspension of Operations arrangement and launch a drive to evict members of the Kuki National Army-Burma (KNA-B), People’s Democratic Force (ant-Junta Myanmar group) and SoO groups from the Naga areas. They also urged the Prime Minister to expedite an inclusive and honourable settlement of India-Naga peace process based on the 2015 Framework Agreement. The representation was signed by UNC president NG Lorho, Naga Women’s Union president Priscilla Thiumai and All Naga Students’ Association Manipur president Angteshang Maring.

Next, it was the turn of Kuki-Zo outfts – KIM and Kuki Women Organisation for Women (KWOHR) -- to take to the streets at Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts on May 16. The most significant of their demands, listed in a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, was for reimposition of President’s Rule. KIM president Ajang Khongsai argued that the continued captivity of innocent civilians was not merely unlawful detention but an act of terror against a people”. Both KIM and KWOHR made out a case for bringing the state under President’s Rule again.

Accentuating the difficulties of people, in general and truckers, in particular, were the economic blockade enforced in the Naga-inhabited areas on May 17 evening. This was seen by Manipur watchers as retaliation to a ‘total shutdown’ effected by a Kuki organisation on May 13, as the news of the killing of three pastors spread. Blockades and shutdowns inevitably leave National Highway 2 out of bounds for users as NH 2 -- considered Manipur’s lifeline – meanders through the Senapati and Kangpokpi districts, linking Imphal with the rest of the country.

May 25 saw the Nagas, under the umbrella of Naga People’s Union, again hold a protest rally, this time in Imphal East district, to reiterate their demand for “immediate release” of six civilians held hostage by suspected Kuki ultras. This protest proved politically significant.

First, the gathering demanded the ouster of Kuki deputy chief minister Nemcha Kipgen, alleging that her husband heads the militant outfit, Kuki National Front (Presidential) “and was responsible for the abduction. Second, for the first time in this phase of intense inter-tribal conflict, a fairly good number of Meitei community members joined the Naga agitationists, who later submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Khemchand.

Incidentally, Kipgen’s ouster demand has also been made by Manipur Naga Youth Organisation (MNYO), alleging misuse of funds meant for tribal welfare schemes and ‘harbouring communal intention’. It has also alleged that her husband, Semtinthang Kipgen, is associated with KNF (P), which has close links with “an unlawful Kuki militant SoO group”. MNYO has set May 31 as the deadline for Kipgen’s resignation. This resignation demand was first made in March. If this time round the demand is not met, MNYO would launch agitations in partnership with Naga Foothills Coordination Committee.

The Khemchand ministry is to complete four months on June 3. The Chief Minister is acknowledged as a strong pro-reconciliation person, and since assuming charge on February 4 after the termination of President’s Rule, he made several attempts to that end. He also counts on the roles of CSOs and did not hesitate to accept different Pastor bodies’ offer to normalise conditions in the aftermath of the May 13 killings.

But the law and order situation is becoming trickier by the day. The state home minister’s observations to the media made between May 14 and 15 spoke of his “helplessness”. The active involvement  of the Nagas and their citing inaction in taking the Framework Agreement of 2015 to a ‘logical’ conclusion, Meities’ lending support to the Nagas, discontent over the reactivation of SoO agreement [or rather it being seen as a pro-Kuki ste] and the latest demand for the resignation of Kipgen, a Kuki, are complicating matters.

The emergence of an anti-Junta armed group in Myanmar, a strong possibility of their links with Kuki ultras under the fold of the SoO group and movements to Myanmar through Mizoram, are aspects that concern both New Delhi and Imphal. Concerted action brooks no delay, informed quarters told NewsClick.  

The writer is a senior freelance journalist based in Kolkata.