Governments are assessed primarily by their ability to prevent violence rather than by official statements. In this context, the situation in Manipur warrants critical scrutiny. Renewed violence has impacted the state’s hill districts, with ongoing gunfire, fatalities, and arson reported in Kangpokpi, Tamenglong, and adjacent areas, despite repeated official assurances of restored peace. The persistence of these incidents calls into question the effectiveness of such assurances.
On 1 September, armed attackers launched an assault on three Liangmai Naga villages—Tapon Khullen, Tapon Khunou, and Makui Pipuram—setting at least thirty houses on fire after a long period of firing. This event came after three Kuki civilians had been killed the previous day, including two women, and four others had been injured. On 13 September, four people died as a result of attacks on Kuki settlements in Tamenglong, and two days later two Kuki women were shot dead in Leisangphai village. Although it is still disputed who is responsible for these incidents and inquiries are ongoing, this uncertainty should not be used as an excuse to do nothing.
The overall statistics are cause for significant concern. According to Home Minister Govindas Konthoujam, as of 31 August 2026, 306 individuals had been killed, and 49 remained missing since the onset of the broader ethnic conflict on 3 May 2023. The government also reported that over 28,000 internally displaced persons continue to reside in relief camps or temporary shelters. During the first seven months of Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh’s administration, which began in February 2026, 45 people were killed and 105 injured. Although the restoration of an elected government was intended as a turning point, the casualty figures indicate that violence has persisted.
The way in which the geography of the conflict is changing is also a source of concern. What began as a conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo has now escalated into a conflict between the Kuki-Zo and the Naga groups. Since February 2026, Human Rights Watch has recorded 34 deaths in this most recent stage, and the wider conflict has led to more than 60,000 people being displaced since May 2023. The unresolved disputes over land, identity, and administrative autonomy have led to new divisions.
The political timeline is important as background. The conflict started in May 2023; Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned on 9 February 2025, and President’s Rule was imposed on 13 February. The elected BJP administration resumed on 4 February 2026. However, even with three distinct phases of government, civilian security has not been clearly attained. This indicates that the fundamental problem goes beyond leadership and also involves how security and reconciliation measures have been conceived, ordered, and implemented.
Judicial oversight has likewise become more rigorous. The Supreme Court has recently asked the Manipur state government about the reported cases of unnatural deaths in the relief camps, as well as about the shortcomings in the investigations and the compensation provided. When the highest court has to remind a state of its duties towards people who have been displaced, the failure goes beyond mere operational defects to involve a failure of moral responsibility. Relief camps are meant to function as safe havens, not as places where further preventable harm can occur. It is therefore essential that aid be distributed honestly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration in Imphal has direct responsibility for law and order within the state. The Modi government in New Delhi, which controls the central forces deployed there and had direct authority during the period of President’s Rule, cannot claim to be distant from the outcomes it was empowered to influence. After more than three years, with 306 recorded deaths, 49 people still missing and hundreds of thousands displaced, the central question is not merely one of theory but a real one: have the security and reconciliation measures been adequate to protect civilians and to prevent further ethnic attacks? The evidence shows that the answer is no.
In light of these findings, genuine security necessitates impartial policing that earns the trust of all communities, comprehensive disarmament, and legal processes that ensure equal treatment for all victims. Reconciliation can only be achieved through sustained, facilitated dialogue, rather than sporadic negotiations that end after brief periods of calm. It is also essential to intensify efforts to locate missing persons and provide compensation to the families of the deceased.
A state that fails to protect its citizens cannot credibly claim a return to normalcy. Manipur requires not additional declarations of restored peace, but tangible evidence in the form of an end to violence and the safeguarding of lives.
