Slow and unsteady: on Manipur and an elusive peace

It has been a little over three months since President’s Rule was declared in Manipur, after a disastrous spell when the State government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s N. Biren Singh, failed to de-escalate tensions in the ongoing ethnic conflict. By all accounts, there has been a significant reduction in gun violence and arson, which had flared up sporadically since the ethnic conflagration began in May 2023. Some of the weapons that were looted from police constabularies have been returned and the militants do not seem to be roaming around with sophisticated weapons impudently as they did earlier. But that has not meant that peace has returned. The free movement of people and goods across highways and between the hills and the valley continues to be impeded. There have been no signs of any thaw in the hostility between the two communities that were at the centre of the conflict and this has meant that those displaced, and who lost their homes in the valley and the hills, are yet to return. That the peace has been fragile was seen in the way the Imphal valley convulsed in protests following a recent incident during the run-up to the Shirui Lily festival, in Ukhrul district in late May. When a State transport bus with journalists drove close to Kuki-Zo inhabited areas, some security personnel placed stickers on the bus to hide the name of the State – an act that riled civil society groups in the valley. Ostensibly, this was done to allow for their safe passage through the Kuki-Zo areas but it only antagonised groups in the valley who saw this as an act of kowtowing to demands for a “separate administration”, one of the key demands of the Kuki-Zo community representatives. Apparently, some of the latter’s partisans had opposed transport services through their areas but stepped back after a stern stance by the organisers of the festival.

It is understandable that the Union government has to walk a tightrope in Manipur, and that explains the relatively slow pace of a return to “true normalcy”. But the government must take strong steps in disarming insurgent and chauvinist groups who continue to hold sway in the valley and the hills. It should also send out a message that these sections will not represent the respective communities in the peace and political initiatives that are needed to resolve the conflict. The distrust of state institutions has led to ethnic partisans setting the discourse. In order to reverse this situation, a stronger commitment to implementing the rule of law, while focusing on rehabilitating the victims of the conflict, is the need of the hour. Meanwhile, there have been calls for the restoration of the State Assembly, with some MLAs claiming majority support for a fresh iteration of an NDA government. This step should only be considered if there is some consensus on steps to be taken towards normalcy among the elected representatives of the respective communities and civil society actors.