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2023-2024 Manipur violence

Coordinates: 24°36′N 93°48′E / 24.6°N 93.8°E / 24.6; 93.8
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2023-2024 Manipur violence
Date3 May 2023–present
(2 years, 1 month, 3 weeks and 6 days)
Location
Manipur, India

24°36′N 93°48′E / 24.6°N 93.8°E / 24.6; 93.8
Caused by
MethodsArson (including churches and temples)[24][25][26][27]
Vandalism (including homes, temples and churches),[28]
Rioting,
Murder[29] (including lynching),[30][31]
Mutilation[32][33]
Plundering[34][35]
Mass rape[36][37]
Parties to the civil conflict
Casualties
Death(s)official – 258 (Nov 2024)[39]
earlier – 175 (14 September 2023)[40]
(98 Kuki-Zo, 67 Meitei, 6 unidentified, 6 security personnel)[41]
unofficial – 181 (29 July 2023)[42][43]
(113 Kuki-Zo, 62 Meitei)[42][43]
Injuries1,108[38]
Manipur is located in India
Manipur
Manipur
Location within India

Ethnic violence broke out in Manipur, India, on 3 May 2023 between the Meitei people of the Imphal Valley and the Kuki-Zo tribal communities from the surrounding hill districts. As of 22 November 2024, official reports confirmed that 258 people had been killed, over 1,000 injured, 60,000 displaced, and 32 remained missing. Thousands of homes were destroyed, and numerous religious structures—including Hindu temples and Christian churches—were vandalized.[a][44]

Unofficial estimates suggest that the actual numbers may be even higher.[45]

Background

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The violence was triggered by a legal and political dispute over Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. On 14 April 2023, the Manipur High Court issued an order that appeared to support the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST category. The order was later criticized by the Supreme Court of India.

On 3 May, tribal communities protested the Meitei demand for ST status, while Meitei groups responded with counter-blockades and rallies. Clashes erupted near the borders of Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts, resulting in widespread arson and destruction.[46][47][48]

Escalation

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Prior to the outbreak, tensions had already risen due to the policies of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, a Meitei leader accused of targeting Kukis by linking them to illegal activities such as poppy cultivation, forest encroachment, and drug trafficking. In March 2023, Kuki groups staged protests against his government, and at one rally, burned down a venue that Singh was scheduled to inaugurate.

Singh was also supported by Meitei nationalist groups such as Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun (sometimes linked to UNLF), who backed his policies and participated in Meitei rallies during the initial clashes.[49][50][51][52]

Spread and Violence

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The violence spread quickly after it started. It reached both the Imphal Valley and Churachandpur town. In each place, the minority groups were attacked. Some Kuki mobs burned houses, while large groups of Meitei people attacked Kuki civilians. The victims included students, government workers, soldiers, and politicians.[53]

According to Reuters, around 77 Kukis and 10 Meiteis were killed in the first week of violence.[54]

On 18 May 2023, ten Kuki lawmakers said they wanted a separate administration. They said that their people could not live with the Meiteis anymore.[55][56]

After that, a group called COCOMI from the Meitei side said there was a "Manipuri national war" against what they called "Chin-Kuki narco-terrorists".[57]

Armed Conflict

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By mid-2023, the conflict resembled a civil war. Both sides acquired arms—some legally, some from looted police armories. Militant groups constructed bunkers and defense outposts across affected regions.

Reports by October 2023 indicated that around 6,000 firearms, 600,000 rounds of ammunition, and other military-grade gear had been seized or stolen from government armories.

Government Response and Fallout

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Despite widespread criticism, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh refused to resign throughout the crisis. His government and the police were accused of partiality. In the 2024 Indian general election, his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, lost both Lok Sabha seats in Manipur to the opposition Indian National Congress.

In early 2025, a Kuki civil group submitted audio recordings to the Supreme Court of India allegedly proving that Singh had incited violence. A forensic laboratory confirmed the voice matched Singh’s with 93% accuracy.

Singh resigned on 9 February 2025. Days later, the Indian government imposed President's Rule in Manipur, bringing the state under direct control of the Union Government through its appointed Governor.[58][59][60]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ According to e-pao.net, more Kuki churches were destroyed by Kukis themselves than by Meiteis. Kukis also set fire to Meitei Christian churches.

References

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  1. ↑ Haokip, Seikhogin (2016). "Autonomy Demands in the Hill Areas of Manipur: Issues and Challenges" (PDF). Journal of North East India Studies. 6 (2): 40. ISSN 2277-6869. Thus, the standpoint of the dominant valley-based Meitei community on the 'territorial integrity' of Manipur remains a major challenge to the demands for 'Greater Nagalim', separate 'Kuki State', and extension of the Sixth Schedule in the hill areas of Manipur.
  2. ↑ Chongloi, Haoginlen (18 June 2022). "Free-Flowing Hate Speech, Rampant Racial Profiling: How Manipur Grew Intolerant". The Wire. Highlighting a few instances of involving the Kukis in the recent past, these leaders from the majority community are habituated to generalising the entire Kuki population as refugees and migrants.... What is being noticed is that hate speech, earlier the territory of individuals, was now taking place at the institutional level.
  3. ↑ "4 months on, how Meitei-Kuki conflict has kept Manipur on the boil". The Indian Express. 26 September 2023. Intermittent violence — emerging from an ethnic conflict between Meitei and Kuki communities
  4. ↑ "Why ethnic violence in India's Manipur has been going on for three months". Al Jazeera. The state has fractured on ethnic lines, with rival Meitei and Kuki-Zo militias setting up blockades to keep out members of the opposing community.
  5. ↑ Malemnganba Singh, Amom (7 January 2023), "Meitei Majoritarian Politics of the BJP in Manipur", Economic & Political Weekly, 58 (1), ... the [Bharatiya Janata Party] has favoured popularising and reimagining Manipur's culture and traditions, emphasising the Meiteis. It has also aided in the formation of several Meitei-based organisations. This has sparked a concern among the state's diverse ethnic communities, prompting them to launch their own version of ethnic politics to counter Meitei majoritarianism, which could dangerously lead to the disintegration of Manipur into numerous sub-factions.... It is important to note that the Meiteis' demand for the ST status is closely linked to the BJP's majoritarian politics of inciting the Meiteis to further solidify their dominance over minorities through the benefits provided for the ST category.
  6. ↑ Sushant Singh (1 August 2023), "Manipur Crisis Tests Modi's India", Foreign Policy, Spiraling violence in the northeastern state takes cues from the ruling party's majoritarianism.
  7. ↑ Arunabh Saikia (2 September 2023), "The return of Meitei insurgents marks a new turn in Manipur conflict", Scroll.in, Such charges are rooted in the Manipur government's barely-veiled Meitei majoritarian stance that has been on display throughout the conflict... The Manipur commandos, an elite counter-insurgency unit of the state police, in particular, has been widely charged with siding with Meitei mobs.
  8. ↑ Greeshma Kuthar (31 July 2023), "Fire and Blood: How the BJP is enabling ethnic cleansing in Manipur", The Caravan, ... the [High Court] order came amid an escalation in the Biren Singh government's concerted campaign to stir up majoritarian sentiments against Kukis, using the same tactics it had employed against the Pangals. The scale of this campaign, however, is exponentially higher.
  9. ↑ Syed Firdaus Ashraf (18 May 2023), "'Biren Singh's BJP government is playing with fire in Manipur' (interview of Kham Khan Suan Hausing)", Rediff News, Biren Singh may have found these militant organisations very useful to aggressively push his integrationist and majoritarian agenda and conveniently use this to electorally consolidate his position by neutralising intermittent challenges from powerful factional leaders within the BJP.
  10. ↑ Jagdish Rattanani (21 June 2023), "Playing with fire in Manipur: The wages of majoritarianism", Deccan Herald '"In the present scenario," the civil society groups put it, "the worst of the violence against the Kukis has been perpetuated by armed Meitei majoritarian groups...accompanied by genocidal hate-speech and supremacist displays of impunity."'
  11. ↑ Makepeace Sitlhou, Greeshma Kuthar, While the conflict has been ethnic in nature, there has been an underlying communal element to the violence, New Lines Magazine, 27 December 2023. "New Lines met several Meitei Christian pastors in Imphal and the surrounding Meitei-dominated districts whose churches had been attacked, but they were extremely scared to share their stories.... Meitei pastors have also alleged that they were forced to convert to Sanamahism and that an unaccounted number of Meitei Christian families have had to renounce their faith by signing conversion affidavits and burning their Bibles under duress from these extremist groups."
  12. ↑ Ravi Agarwal, Inside Manipur’s Ethnic Violence, Foreign Policy, 17 August 2023. "While this is not a Hindu-versus-Christian conflict, there are definite religious undertones, which certainly have consequences in today’s India."
  13. ↑ Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Hindutva Is A 'Friend' That Manipur's Meiteis Would Be Better Without, Outlook, 24 July 2023. "Soon after the beginning of the conflict on May 3 started a flood of social media posts targeting Kukis as 'Christian terrorists'. While tweets from handles belonging to Meiteis mostly blamed 'Kuki terrorists' or 'Kuki militants' or 'Kuki drug mafias' and 'Kuki narco terrorists', the profiles belonging to Hindutva activists, operated mostly by people outside Manipur, started vilifying 'Kuki Christian terrorists'."
  14. ↑ Manipur: why is there conflict and how is the government responding?, The Guardian, 21 July 2023. "As the clashes spread, villages were burned down and more than 250 churches belonging to the Kuki community, who are Christian, were destroyed.... Some allege that the Hindu nationalist Modi government is not stepping in to protect the Kukis, who are Christian, from the Meitei, who are Hindu."
  15. ↑ Unpacking the ethnic violence in Manipur: The impact of social media and newly formed civil societies, India Today NE, 6 June 2023. 'There have also been reports of Arambai Tenggol burning churches and forcing Meitei Christians to renounce their faith. In a post made by the Facebook page Meitei/Meetei Christian on May 6 accused the group of attacking Meitei Christians, quoting, “As per our knowledge, we know all the Meitei Christian churches are demolished. And now Arambai Tenggol is forcing to renounce their Christian faith among the Meitei Christians.”'
  16. ↑ "Violence Against Tribal Christians in Manipur, India". United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, US Government.
  17. ↑ https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/violence-in-manipur-has-been-caused-by-the-expansion-of-hindutva-to-north-eastern-india-says-social-activist/article67396734.ece
  18. ↑ Gupta, Anant; Mehrotra, Karishma (26 May 2023). "India's northeast racked by ethnic unrest partly fueled by Myanmar crisis". Washington Post. "Since the coup, this recent violence is the first time where we see that a large number of refugees have come in and created internal problems," said Gopal Krishna Pillai, a former home secretary and joint secretary in charge of India's whole northeast, echoing the official line that the refugees are to blame for the unrest.... But some observers maintain that the government is scapegoating the tribal peoples. "Now, it is easier to target the Kukis as illegal immigrants," said Angshuman Choudhury, an expert on the region at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research.
  19. ↑ "Govt: Manipur violence due to crackdown on illegal migrants". The Times of India. 18 May 2023. The Centre and Manipur government told the Supreme Court that the genesis of ethnic violence in the state was the crackdown on illegal Myanmar migrants' illicit poppy cultivation and drug business in the hill districts...
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Debarshi Dasgupta (6 August 2023). "Unrest in Myanmar linked to ongoing ethnic strife in India's Manipur state". The Straits Times. Manipur's Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader N. Biren Singh, a Meitei, has blamed illegal migrants and drug lords from Myanmar for the lingering violence, claiming such forces were trying to "destabilise the state".
  21. ↑ "Manipur violence: What is happening and why". BBC News. 20 July 2023. [There] are myriad underlying reasons. The Kukis say a war on drugs waged by the Meitei-led government is a screen to uproot their communities. Illegal migration from Myanmar has heightened tensions. There is pressure on land use from a growing population and unemployment has pushed youth towards the various militias.
  22. ↑ "Drugs, land rights, tribal identity and illegal immigration-Why Manipur is burning". India Today NE. 5 May 2023. Fuelling this conflict are also allegations of illegal immigration. In March, leaders of several students' organisations representing the Meitei community protested outside Biren Singh's home, alleging that "illegal immigrants from Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh" were marginalising "the indigenous people of Manipur". They demanded the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the setting up of a population commission.
  23. ↑ Sumir Karmakar (15 May 2023), "Role of Myanmar-based drug lords, 'illegal immigrants' suspected in Manipur violence", Deccan Herald, Amid a high level inquiry into the ongoing Kuki-Meitei clashes in Manipur, the BJP government in the state is increasingly pushing its claim that Myanmar-based drug lords and 'illegal immigrants' from the neighbouring country were behind the violence...
  24. ↑ "253 churches burnt down during continuing unrest in Manipur: Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum". The Telegraph (Kolkata). 13 June 2023.
  25. ↑ "Archbishop of Imphal claims 249 churches burnt in Manipur: 'Religious attack carried out'". The Indian Express. 18 June 2023.
  26. ↑ Sukrita Baruah (15 September 2023). "Manipur violence: 175 deaths so far, 4,786 houses burnt, say police". The Indian Express.
  27. ↑ "Temple vandalised, villagers terrified". The Sangai Express. 20 May 2023.
  28. ↑ "Manipur Files: 1,988 Meitei homes, 1,425 Kuki homes, 17 temples and 221 churches destroyed". India Today NE. 2 June 2023.
  29. ↑ "Before parading women naked in Manipur, mob killed people and torched houses, June 21 FIR states". The Hindu. 21 July 2023.
  30. ↑ Rakhi Bose (20 May 2023). "Manipur Violence: Lynchings, Villages Burnt, Lives Disrupted. But Where Was The State?". Outlook.
  31. ↑ Rakhi Bose (20 June 2023). "A Lynching Caught On Tape: Manipur's Kuki Family Demands Justice For The 'Missing Man'". Outlook.
  32. ↑ "Naga Body Demands Action Against Meitei Groups for Killing of Naga Woman in Imphal East". The Wire. 17 July 2023.
  33. ↑ "Manipur: More Horrific Cases Of Beheading And Assault Of Women Surface". Outlook. 22 July 2023.
  34. ↑ "3,000 weapons looted in second wave of Manipur violence, 144 recovered so far". The Indian Express. 3 June 2023.
  35. ↑ "Looting unabated in Manipur dists". The Times of India. 12 May 2023.
  36. ↑ "More cases of women being assaulted surface in Manipur". The Hindu. 21 July 2023.
  37. ↑ "18-year-old gang-raped in Manipur after women vigilantes hand her over to armed men". The Hindu. 22 July 2023.
  38. ↑ Cite error: The named reference PTI 15 Sep was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  39. ↑ Cite error: The named reference NIE CAPF troops was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  40. ↑ * Phurailatpam Keny Devi, Manipur violence: Security forces remove barricades in Bishnupur district, IGP reports 175 casualties, India Today NE, 14 September 2023.
  41. ↑ Vijaita Singh, Abhinay Lakshman, Supreme Court panel submits report on Manipur victims, The Hindu, 28 November 2023.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Cite error: The named reference Reuters bunkers was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 "Manipur: Bearing brunt of violence, Kukis make up two-thirds of the victims, says Reuters analysis". The Telegraph (Kolkata). 29 July 2023.
  44. ↑ "Kukis burnt down Meitei churches: Rohan Philem : 23rd Oct 2023 ~ E-Pao! Headlines". e-pao.net. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
  45. ↑ Ali, Yaqut (9 September 2023). "The Manipur Crisis in Numbers: Four Months of Unending Violence". The Wire.
  46. ↑ Roy, Esha (3 May 2023). "Protest against ST demand turns violent in Manipur, curfew imposed in entire state". The Indian Express.
  47. ↑ Roy, Esha (27 June 2023). "In 10 years of Meitei ST demand, repeated pleas to state, Centre". The Indian Express.
  48. ↑ "Tribal Solidarity March takes ugly turn; houses, offices, vehicles burnt". The Sangai Express. 4 May 2023.
  49. ↑ Saikia, Arunabh (6 June 2023). "Armed gangs and a partisan state: How Manipur slipped into civil war". Scroll.in.
  50. ↑ Sadokpam, Dhiren A. (6 May 2023). "What is really behind the violence in Manipur?". Frontline.
  51. ↑ Choudhury, Angshuman (27 June 2023). "Targeting of Kukis the main reason behind Manipur violence". Frontline.
  52. ↑ Kuthar, Greeshma (31 July 2023). "Fire and Blood: How the BJP is enabling ethnic cleansing in Manipur". The Caravan.
  53. ↑ "Manipur ethnic violence in the Indian state explained". Reuters. 21 July 2023.
  54. ↑ "Manipur ethnic violence in the Indian state explained". Reuters. 21 July 2023.
  55. ↑ Mathew, Ashlin (28 July 2023). "Manipur: Kuki-Zo protest in Delhi to demand separate administration". National Herald.
  56. ↑ "Protests on to oppose Manipur Kuki MLAs' demand for separate admin". Times of India.
  57. ↑ Mathew, Ashlin (28 July 2023). "Manipur: Kuki-Zo protest in Delhi to demand separate administration". National Herald.
  58. ↑ "President's Rule Imposed In Manipur Days After Biren Singh's Resignation". NDTV. 13 February 2025.
  59. ↑ "Manipur Violence: Several Organisations Seek President's Rule Citing Biases In Administration". IndiaTimes. 23 June 2023.
  60. ↑ Deka, Kaushik (7 August 2023). "Shameful blunders: By allowing Manipur's wounds to fester, the state and central governments have pushed its people to a point of no return". India Today. ProQuest 2843766176.
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