Breaking impasse in Manipur’s civil strife

The Centre-mediated talks in Delhi involving legislators from conflict-torn Manipur on Tuesday didn’t yield a breakthrough but the initiative is a good beginning. Since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in May 2023, at least 220 persons have died and over 50,000 people have been left homeless. Violence has since become sporadic but the healing process is nowhere to be seen. In fact, the Delhi meet revealed the deep chasm that exists among communities when the Kuki MLAs declined to engage their colleagues from the Meitei community: A statement was issued on behalf of the Kuki legislators, which said that peace discussions are feasible only after a separate administration is set up for the hill districts that are home to Kuki-Zo-Hmar communities.

This impasse is the outcome of the hill districts perceiving the administration in Imphal as partisan to the Meiteis. Chief minister (CM) N Biren Singh, a Meitei himself, has done little to remove this perception. The BJP has backed his leadership despite the collapse of the administration and the electoral reverses faced in the general election — the party lost both the Lok Sabha seats in Manipur to the Congress. The state needs leadership that can rise above the divisions in the society and present itself as a neutral arbitrator.

Interestingly, CM Singh was not invited to the legislators’ meeting in Delhi, where it appeared that the Centre intended to use the good offices of the MLAs from the Naga community to broker peace. The plan may not have worked out this time but the Centre needs to persist with talks, and perhaps, get credible civil society voices from outside Manipur to start a conversation. Politics in Manipur is communitarian and the elected representatives are beholden to influential grassroots groups that dictate the terms and conditions of talks. The polarisation is so stark that few in Manipur are willing to intervene in a scenario presumably controlled by armed groups.

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