2023–2024 Manipur violence

On 3 May 2023, ethnic violence erupted in India's north-eastern state of Manipur between the Meitei people, a majority that lives in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki-Zo tribal community from the surrounding hills. According to government figures, as of 3 May 2024, 221 people have been killed in the violence and 60,000 people have been displaced. Earlier figures also mentioned over 1,000 injured, and 32 missing. 4,786 houses were burnt and 386 religious structures were vandalized, including temples and churches. Unofficial figures are higher.

The proximate cause of the violence was a row over an affirmative action measure. On 14 April 2023, acting on a writ petition, the Manipur High Court ordered the state government to send a recommendation to the central government on the demand for a Scheduled Tribe status by the valley-based Meitei community, a decision later criticised by the Supreme Court. To protest the Meitei demands for the scheduled tribe status, the All Tribal Students' Union Manipur conducted peaceful protest marches on 3 May. After one of these marches, clashes broke out between Kuki and Meitei groups near the border between the Churachandpur district and Bishnupur district, followed by house burning. The violence quickly spread to the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur town and the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley, targeting the minority community in each area. According to Reuters, 77 Kukis and 10 Meiteis were killed within a week.

In addition to the ST status, other issues had been festering prior to the violence. For example, the Kuki people in the hill districts saw themselves as being the target of the state government's treatment of indigenous land rights concerns. There have been evictions of Kuki communities as a result of efforts to survey forests, which were ostensibly made to stop the cultivation of poppy.

The Meitei community has also experienced a rise in insecurity as a result of the flood of refugees from Myanmar following the military coup in 2021, particularly those from the Sagaing region. In one of the instances, the Manipur government have questioned the central security forces, especially the Assam Rifles, of allowing illegal immigration from Myanmar. Many organisations have protested against Assam Rifles of siding with the Kuki communities, including instance of Manipur police filing FIR against its personnel for enabling Kuki militants to escape by obstructing the police movements.

According to several organisations, there have been accounts of partisan killings by security forces, as well as allegations of the police siding with the Meitei community.

Background
Manipur is a state in northeast India, bordering Myanmar to its east and south. The Imphal Valley constitutes about 10% of the geographical area of the state with 57% of the population, predominantly Meitei, who are majority Hindus, with minorities of Muslims and native Sanamahism followers. The surrounding hills constitute 90% of the geographical area of the state with 43% of the population belonging to 34 tribal groups broadly categorized as Nagas and Kukis. The Nagas dominate the northern districts while the Kukis are predominant in the south. The tribal people have the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, whereas the Meitei have been accorded Other Backward Class (OBC) status, with some classified as Scheduled Castes (SC) in certain areas.

Scholars write that the hill tribes, whose administration had largely been left to the respective chiefs known as Khullakpa by the Meitei Kings, came to be administered by the British after the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891. The British administrative control became more intensive after the Kuki Rebellion of 1917–19 and they continued to administer the hill areas directly until 1947. Scholars believe the colonial administration employed the "divide and rule" policy which widened existing divide between the peoples. On the contrary, the hill regions are noted by some scholars as forming part of Zomia inhabited by "non-state" peoples. They came to be administered only after the Kuki Rebellion of 1917–1919, After Indian independence, the hill tribes continued to enjoy a protected status. Even though the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960, prohibits transfer of tribal land to non-tribals except by special permission, the seventh amendment (2015) is seen as an attempt by the valley dwellers to grab tribal land. The valley-based Meitei dominate the political establishment. Of the 60 Assembly constituencies, 40 are held by the valley and 20 are in the hill districts. The tribal population is not prohibited from settling in the valley region. Kukis state that they do not want to come to the valley but they have to since there are no roads, schools or hospitals in the hills.

Tribal groups have complained that the government spending is unduly concentrated in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley.

Scheduled Tribe status for Meitei
The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) began demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Meitei people in 2012. The STDCM claims the status will restore the harmonious relationship between the valley and the hills peoples before the Manipur's merger with India in 1949. On the other hand, the hills people view this demand as an attempt to reduce the effectiveness of the Naga and Kuki demands, and enable the Meitei to make inroads into the hill regions.

It was reported later that the Union government and the state government had considered the issue of ST status for Meitei twice, once in 1982 and a second time in 2001, and rejected it both times. This fact was not publicised at the beginning of the conflict.

Political background
Okram Ibobi Singh of the Indian National Congress (INC) had been in power for three terms from 2002. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2017 for the first time under the leadership of N. Biren Singh who managed to out-maneuver the INC, the single largest party, and formed a minority government. In the 2022 Manipur Legislative Assembly election, Biren Singh led the BJP to a clear majority increasing the seat tally from 21 (2017) to 32 (2022) in an Assembly of 60 and continued as the Chief Minister. The rise of BJP power in Manipur has empowered the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to incite the Vaishnavite Meitei to assert Hindutva politics against religious minorities. This included giving rise to Meitei-based organisations and increased vigilantism, cultural policing, and anti-minority rhetoric.

Refugees from Myanmar
The renewed outbreak of civil war in Myanmar in neighbouring Chin state has also been claimed to be a reason for the violence in Manipur. Fighting in the Chin theater has caused an influx of refugees in the states of Manipur and Mizoram. As of May 2023, according to the chief minister, 2,000 refugees had entered Manipur and were housed in shelters. Other estimates put the number between 5,000 and 10,000. Rumours have circulated that Chin refugees are receiving assistance from Kuki villagers and are helping to enhance the "political clout" of the Kukis. This has caused the Meiteis to brand all Kukis as "illegal immigrants". Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah stated that the influx of Kuki people from Myanmar created insecurity amongst the Meitei people of Manipur and triggered the violence.

International factors
China perceives that India's Act East Policy, and closer relations with Southeast Asian nations pose a serious threat to its ambition to establish its hegemony in the region. On 15th August 2023, Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh said that certain misunderstandings, actions of vested interests and foreign conspiracies to destabilise the state led to widespread violence in Manipur.

Antecedents
On 7 November 2022, the Government of Manipur passed an order setting aside previous orders from the 1970s and 1980s that excluded villages from proposed Churachandpur-Khoupum protected forest, which automatically placed 38 ancestral villages in Churachandpur in the encroaching category. In February 2023, the BJP state government began an eviction drive in districts of Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal, declaring the forest dwellers as encroachers—a move seen as anti-tribal.

In March, the Manipur Cabinet decided to withdraw from the Suspension of Operation agreements with three Kuki militant groups, including the Kuki National Army and the Zomi Revolutionary Army, though the central government did not support such a withdrawal. Several Manipuri organisations also demonstrated in New Delhi to press for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be created with 1951 as the base year, complaining of abnormal population growth in hill areas. The first violence broke out as five people were injured in a clash in the Kangpokpi district, where protesters gathered to hold a rally against "encroachment of tribal land in the name of reserved forests, protected forests and wildlife sanctuary". While, the state cabinet stated that the government will not compromise on "steps taken to protect the state government's forest resources and for eradicating poppy cultivation". Social scientists, such as Dhanabir Laishram, have argued that targeting those poor Kuki cultivators alone would be futile. A rich section of the Meitei community is blamed to be one of the major funders. On 11 April, three churches in Imphal's Tribal Colony locality were razed for being illegal constructions on government land.

On 20 April 2023, a judge of the Manipur High Court directed the state government to "consider request of the Meitei community to be included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list." The Kukis feared that the ST status would allow the Meiteis purchase land in the prohibited hilly areas.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) called for a total shut down on 28 April in protest of the state government actions, a day that also happened to have been scheduled for the chief minister N. Biren Singh to visit Churachandpur for the inauguration of an open air gym. The day before the visit, a mob set fire to the gym and vandalised it. The ITLF claimed that it started the agitation as the state government was not addressing the plight of the people. Section 144 was invoked on 28 April as well as a five-day Internet shut down. The protesters clashed with the police and tear gas shells were used to disperse the mobs.

What has been said, openly, including by Chief Minister Biren Singh, is that too many “foreign” (Myanmar Kukis) are involved, there is foreign (Chinese, he insinuated) hand, and that the Kuki tribals are forest encroachers, illicit poppy growers, drug smugglers and terrorists. “Terrorist” is an expression he has used for them more than once and it has been widely reported in the national broadsheets.

Initial riots
On 3 May, the tribal organisation All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM), opposing the Meitei demand for ST status, conducted a "Tribal Solidarity March". Tens of thousands of protesters participated in the march across all hill districts of Manipur. According to the Union Home Ministry, the call for the march also generated a "counter response" by the Meitei. Reports were received of a counter-blockade at Torbung near the Bishnupur–Churachandpur district border, and a counter-agitation in the surrounding valley areas (such as the Kangvai village), where houses were attacked by Meitei mobs. Two dead bodies were discovered in the Kangvai village and tyres were burnt at the base of the Anglo-Kuki War Memorial gate at Leisang as an apparent provocation.

After the reportedly peaceful rally in the Churachandpur town in which 100,000 people participated, rallyists returning to the Torbung–Kangvai area faced the "counter-blockade" by the Meitei groups. This resulted in stone-throwing and arson of vehicles and properties. The Kangvai village in the Bishnupur district was burnt down. These events caused a large number of Kuki-Zo people from Churachandpur side to rush to the clash site and participate in the clashes, including the burning of the Bangla village in Churachandpur district. About 80 people were injured in the violence who were taken to the Churachandpur District Hospital, of which three people died by the next morning.

By the evening, clashes spread to the Churachandpur town, where Meitei settlements were attacked, and the Imphal City, where Kuki-Zo settlements were attacked. Violence continued through the night of 3 May. Residences and churches of the Kuki tribal population were attacked in the valley areas. According to the police, many houses of the tribal population in Imphal were attacked and 500 occupants were displaced and had to take shelter in Lamphelpat. Around 1000 Meiteis affected by the violence also had to flee from the region and take shelter in Bishnupur. Twenty houses were burnt in the city of Kangpokpi. Violence was observed in Churachandpur, Kakching, Canchipur, Soibam Leikai, Tengnoupal, Langol, Kangpokpi and Moreh while mostly being concentrated in the Imphal Valley during which several houses, places of worship and other properties were burnt and destroyed.

On 4 May, fresh cases of violence were reported. The police force had to fire several rounds of tear gas shells to control the rioters. Kuki MLA Vunzjagin Valte (BJP), who is the representative of the tribal headquarters of Churachandpur, was attacked during the riots while he was returning from the state secretariat. His condition was reported to be critical on 5 May, while a person accompanying him died. The government said around 1700 houses and numerous vehicles were burned down during the violence.

Government response
A curfew was imposed across eight districts, including non-tribal dominated Imphal West, Kakching, Thoubal, Jiribam, and Bishnupur districts, as well as tribal-dominated Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, and Tengnoupal districts.

The Manipur government issued a shoot at sight order on 4 May. By the end of 3 May, 55 columns of the Assam Rifles and the Indian Army were deployed in the region and by 4 May, more than 9,000 people were relocated to safer locations. By 5 May, about 20,000 and by 6 May, 23,000 people had been relocated to safe locations under military supervision. The central government airlifted 5 companies of the Rapid Action Force to the region. Nearly 10,000 army, paramilitary and Central Armed Police Forces were deployed in Manipur. As of 14 May, the total military build up in Manipur stood at 126 army columns and 62 companies of paramilitary forces.

On 4 May, it was widely reported that the Union government had invoked the Article 355 of the Indian Constitution to take over the security situation of Manipur. However, no notification was issued to this effect. Nevertheless, the Home Ministry appointed a security advisor to the Manipur chief minister, Kuldip Singh, who previously headed the CRPF, and an overall commander for the law and order situation, Ashutosh Sinha.

The insertion of troops led to several engagements between hill-based militants and the Indian Reserve Battalion, resulting in at least five militant deaths. In a separate encounter, four militants were killed. By 6 May the situation had calmed down to a degree. According to journalist Moses Lianzachin, at least twenty-seven churches were destroyed or burned down during the violence. As of 9 May, according to the Manipur government, the death toll was over 60 people. The situation was described as "relatively peaceful" on 10 May, with the curfew being relaxed in places, though unknown militants fired on Indian troops in an incident in Manipur's Imphal East district, injuring one.

On 12 May, suspected Kuki militants ambushed policemen in Bishnupur district, killed one officer and injuring five others. In a separate incident, a soldier was stabbed and three Meitei community members kidnapped in Torbung, Churachandpur district. A day later, the security advisor to the Manipur Government Kuldeep Singh raised the total fatality count from the violence to more than 70 deaths. This included the discovery of three Public Works Department labourers found dead in a vehicle in the Churachandpur from unknown causes. He added the number of internally displaced people living in camps had been significantly reduced, and that about 45,000 people had been relocated to other areas.

On 14 May, a delegation of state ministers led by Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh left for New Delhi to meet Union home minister Amit Shah to discuss the situation.

The internet blackout and curfew remained in place on 16 May. Food was also reported to be scarce, with shops, schools and offices closed, and thousands of people stranded in refugee camps. Fresh violence over the weekend had led to further displacements. On 17 May, the internet blackout was extended for five more days.

Recurrent violence
On 14 May, reports of fresh violence surfaced in the Torbung area, with unidentified arsonists torching more property, including houses and trucks. Five companies of Border Security Forces were deployed. In a separate incident, two Assam Rifles personnel were injured.

Fresh violence occurred on 29 May during which at least five people including one policeman was killed.

On 14 June, at least 11 people were shot, including nine Meitei men. Additionally, 14 were injured in a fresh outbreak. According to doctors and other senior management officials at the state's capital, the latest clash has been so extreme that many bodies have been hard to identify.

A 21 year old Kuki youth was arrested for sharing a post against CM Biren Singh on social media. He was beaten to death on a street in Imphal when he was supposed to be in police custody.

Warring groups
Both Meitei civil society organisations, Arambai Tenggol, Meitei Leepun and Kuki militants under SoO agreement with the government were repeatedly mentioned as being involved in this ongoing violence as attackers of each other's villages. Surrendered cadres of Meitei insurgent groups, officially called "Valley-based Insurgent Groups" (VBIGs), are believed to have trained them in using arms looted from state armouries. In one instance, a fierce gunfight was reported between militants operating under the Arambai Tenggol banner, and a unit of Assam Rifles. On 26 May, Arambai Tenggol issued an announcement stating it was "dissolving itself". But its cadres were spotted at Pallel in September, dressed in police commando uniforms, attempting to break through security check posts. Some of them also fired on the security forces, resulting in gunshot injuries to an Army major.

Secessionist Meitei insurgent groups, having previously escaped to Myanmar due to Indian counter-insurgency operations, are believed to have returned to Manipur in the midst of violence and begun to conduct operations against the Kuki-Zo villages. In September, one militant was arrested, along with four other civilians, for travelling with illegal arms wearing police uniforms. After the court granted him bail, he was rearrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and taken to Delhi. Subsequently NIA issued a public warning stating that Myanmar-based insurgent groups were organising to wage a war against India by exploiting the ethnic clashes.

Casualties and victims
Reuters reported that, during the first week of violence, 77 Kukis and 10 Meiteis were killed. The majority of the Kuki deaths were caused by murderous Meitei mobs, who roamed the streets of the Imphal city and other locales in the valley, attacking people in their homes and on the streets. By 14 May, the government's tally of casualties and property damage from the violence stood at 73 dead, 243 injured, 1809 houses burned down, 46,145 people evacuated, 26,358 people taken to 178 relief camps, 3,124 people escorted evacuation flights, and 385 criminal cases registered with the authorities.

On July 19, a video went viral showing two Kuki women, one aged in her forties and another in her twenties, being stripped, paraded naked on the streets, slapped and sexually assaulted by presumably Meitei men. The women were forcibly taken away from the police station when they were fleeing mob violence. The younger victim was allegedly gang-raped and one of the victims' father and teenage brother were killed by the mob while trying to protect the victim. Despite the complaint being lodged no action was taken by the police for more than 2 months until the video emerged. The Kuki community have accused the police of siding with the Meitei community. The video emerged after more than two months since the incident took place as internet was shut down in Manipur. One of the victims said that they have been “left to the mob by the police”. On July 20, Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh defended his decision to curtail Internet access in the state, citing hundreds of similar incidents occurring in the past. The Union government ordered social media platforms to remove all posts showing the viral video. Seven arrests were made in the case, all of them after the viral video surfaced.

The Supreme Court responded within hours after the circulation of the video, warning that the court will intervene if the government fails to act.

After the media reports circulated about the National Commission of Women (NCW) having knowledge of the incident as they received a complaint in the month of June, the chairperson of NCW said that she did not receive a response from authorities in Manipur, even after she forwarded the complaint thrice.

The CBI took over the case on 29 July. On 1 August, the Supreme Court stopped CBI from recording the two women's statements which was scheduled just two hours before the Supreme Court hearing on the case, due to objections by the women.

The home of Babloo Loitongbam, human rights activist and director of Human Rights Alert, was vandalised on 5 October 2023 for his activism. The radical Meitei organisation, Meitei Leepun, issued a "boycott call" to Loitongbam. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said "We are alarmed by threats to human rights defender Babloo Loitongbam by Meitei Leepun and Arambai Tenggol groups in Manipur for speaking out on communal violence since May. We urge authorities to protect him, his family and home, and hold perpetrators accountable".

Supreme Court proceedings
On 31 July, the Supreme Court asked Manipur government to provide complete break-up of around 6000 FIRs related to the violence in the state. The court also expressed shock after learning that it took 14 days for the police to register even a zero FIR in the case of two women being paraded naked by a mob and were assaulted sexually in public. During the hearing on 1 August, the Supreme Court called the police investigations as "tardy", and said that the state underwent "absolute breakdown of the constitutional machinery".

On 7 August 2023, the Supreme Court took suo moto cognisance and formed a committee consisting of retired Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal (who will lead the committee), former Bombay High Court judge Justice Shalini Phansaklar Joshi and former Delhi High Court judge Asha Menon to look into relief and rehabilitation, and appointed former Mumbai Police Commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar to oversee the probe.

Reactions
The Chief Minister of Manipur, N. Biren Singh, stated that the riots were instigated by “prevailing misunderstanding between two communities” and appealed for restoration of normality.

Shashi Tharoor, a Member of Parliament, called for President's rule and blamed the BJP-led government, saying it has failed to govern the state.

Peter Machado, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangalore, expressed concern that the Christian community is being made to feel insecure, adding that "seventeen churches are either vandalised, desecrated or defiled."

Olympic medallist Mary Kom, a native of Manipur, tweeted an appeal seeking help for her home state. The Union Government Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah cancelled his campaign programs for the Karnataka election and held meetings with Biren Singh monitoring the situation in Manipur.

A BJP MLA, Dinganglung Gangmei, petitioned the Supreme Court of India against the High Court's recommendation to the state government to add Meitei people to the Scheduled Tribes list.

On 12 May 2023, all 10 Kuki MLAs, including eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party, issued a statement demanding a separate body be created to administer their community under the constitution of India in the wake of the violent ethnic clashes. They alleged that the violence had been “tacitly supported” by the BJP-run state government, and that living under a Meitei-majority administration after the violence would be “as good as death” for their community. Five organisations of tribal students of Manipur in New Delhi also demanded a probe into the alleged involvement of two radical Meitei groups, Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun in the violence.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement that the violence in Manipur "revealed the underlying tensions between different ethnic and indigenous groups". He urged the authorities to "respond to the situation quickly, including by investigating and addressing root causes of the violence in line with their international human rights obligations".

On 29 May, hundreds of women from Kuki, Mizo, and Zomi tribes staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding intervention by the central government to end communal tensions in Manipur. The women waved national flags and held posters declaring themselves as Indians, not immigrants, while criticising the state government stirring tensions by evicting of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land.

On 30 May 2023, eleven international and national award-winning sportspersons from the state said that they will return their awards if the territorial integrity of the state is compromised. The sportspersons said that if the government does not meet their demands, they will not represent India and will not help in training new talent.

On 1 July 2023, Joseph Pamplany, Archbishop of Thalassery in Kerala, said the violence is sponsored by the Modi government to destroy Christian communities in Manipur.

On 14 July 2023, the BJP's vice-president from the state of Mizoram, R. Vanramchhuanga, resigned from his post accusing BJP governments in the centre and the state of supporting demolition of churches.

On 20 July 2023, Modi broke his months-long silence after a video of two women being paraded naked and subjected to blatant acts of sexual assault by a group of men went viral. He said the incident shamed India and that no guilty will be spared. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticized for being silent on the violence for almost three months, for not visiting the state and for avoiding the broader situation in his statement after a video showing two women being paraded naked went viral.

On 27 July 2023, the BJP's Bihar wing leader, Vinod Sharma, resigned alleging that the violence in the state has defamed the country.

On 7 August 2023, Kuki People's Alliance withdrew their support to the BJP government of the state led by N. Biren Singh.

The parliamentary opposition under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) tabled a no confidence motion about the crisis on August 10 in order to make Modi address the situation in more detail to parliament. Modi delivered a two hour speech mainly focused on the accomplishments of his government and criticising the opposition for "defaming India" through the vote, to which opposition MLAs walked out. Afterwards, Modi addressed the conflict, stating that "there would soon be peace in Manipur" and that the whole country would get behind resolution efforts. The motion failed as expected due to the overwhelming BJP majority, with it being seen more as a way to force Modi to speak about the matter and showcase the unity and power of the INDIA grouping.

Media coverage
Mainstream television channels from India ignored the Manipur conflict for a while, and covered it only after a viral video surfaced showing two naked women being paraded by a mob. However, a team of independent researchers on national media coverage of Manipur Violence argued that "The study finds some discernible patterns in this regard that indicate shortcomings and perceptible biases in the ways in which the crisis in Manipur has been covered by the ‘national’ newspapers", and it has been found that the Kuki sources are quoted far more than the Meitei sources in the news reports of the mainstream media. Also, as per "the Wire" major newspapers and broadcast media from Manipur and the rest of India have avoided reporting on violence faced by the Christian-majority Kukis, while highlighting violence by Kuki militants. It is argued that three of the most read English newspapers in the region did not even report on the incident of a mob burning a woman and a boy alive. The Sangai Express referred to Kukis by the adjective "aliens" in an editorial, while an editorial in the Imphal Free Press justified the villagers looting arms from the security forces in the state.

On 21 July, ANI incorrectly reported that a Muslim man has been arrested in connection to the incident in which two naked women were seen paraded forcibly by a mob in a viral video. ANI later apologized for the tweet, saying that it was based on an erroneous reading of previously published tweets by Manipur Police.