Qualla: 2023-2025 Manipur Violence

2023-2025 Manipur Violence: Introduction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On the evening of 3 May 2023, the Imphal Valley burned. In Churachandpur, Meitei settlements were attacked. In Imphal city, Kuki-Zo neighborhoods were set alight. By the time dawn-to-dusk curfews were imposed across eight districts, roughly 1,700 houses had been destroyed and the state of Manipur had fractured along ethnic lines so completely that, two years later, the wounds had not closed. What began as a dispute over tribal status classifications escalated into one of the worst episodes of communal violence in modern Indian history -- a crisis that displaced over 46,000 people, killed dozens in its first weeks alone, and drew condemnation from the United Nations, India's Supreme Court, and citizens around the world.

2023-2025 Manipur Violence: The Faultline Beneath the Valley

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Manipur's geography mirrors its ethnic divisions. The Meitei, who are predominantly Hindu and make up the majority of the state's population, inhabit the fertile Imphal Valley. The Kuki-Zo and Naga peoples, many of them Christian, live in the surrounding hills. Tensions over land...

2023-2025 Manipur Violence: A State Torn in Two

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The violence spread with terrifying speed. Residences, churches, and temples were burned across Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Tengnoupal, and the Imphal Valley. The government issued shoot-on-sight orders on 4 May. Nearly 10,000 army, paramilitary, and Central Armed Police Forces dep...

2023-2025 Manipur Violence: Victims in the Crossfire

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Reuters reported that during the first week alone, 77 Kukis and 10 Meiteis were killed. By 14 May, the government tally stood at 73 dead, 243 injured, and over 26,000 people sheltered in 178 relief camps. The human cost went beyond statistics. A viral video that emerged in July 2...

2023-2025 Manipur Violence: When the Courts Intervened

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

India's Supreme Court called the police investigations "tardy" and declared that there had been an "absolute breakdown of law and order and machinery of the State." On 7 August 2023, the court took suo moto cognizance and formed a three-member committee led by retired Justice Git...

2023-2025 Manipur Violence: An Unfinished Reckoning

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not publicly address the crisis until 20 July 2023 -- nearly three months after the violence began -- and only after the video of the two women went viral. His silence drew sharp criticism. All ten Kuki-Zo members of the state legislature, includi...