Manipur's Fragile Thaw: Kuki-Zo MLAs Return as Naga Tensions Flare
Manipur sees tentative political openings between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities even as a new Naga-Kuki-Zo fault line escalates in the hills.
Three years after the violence of May 2023 hardened into a divide between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, Manipur has been moving slowly towards normalcy. The transition from nearly a year of President's Rule to a BJP-led government under new Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh in February 2026 gave fresh momentum to efforts at reconciliation, and everyday clashes between the two communities have eased.
The recovery remains incomplete. Many people displaced in 2023 are still living in relief camps, where an RTI reply places the death toll at more than 700, with inadequate health care and nutrition among the causes. Still, there have been encouraging signs. On September 2, two Kuki-Zo MLAs attended an Assembly session — the first time since legislators from the community began boycotting the House after the attacks in Imphal at the start of the ethnic conflict. Their decision defied a Kuki Inpi Manipur directive to continue the boycott until there was movement on the demand for a separate administration. The two legislators appeared to recognise that the political space should be reopened even if differences remain.
At the same time, a new ethnic fault line has emerged. Since February, what began as localised disputes between the Naga and Kuki-Zo communities has spread across the hill districts. Until July, at least 15 Kuki-Zo people, 11 Nagas, three security personnel and a truck driver had been killed, with more deaths reported in the following two months. Houses in Naga and Kuki-Zo villages have been burned, and newly displaced residents have moved into camps. Blockades imposed by partisans of each community have held up essentials and medicines, with the smaller Kuki-Zo community affected more severely. Health centres in the hills have been left dysfunctional.
The current violence echoes the Naga-Kuki clashes of the 1990s, revived by armed groups claiming to act for their communities and by renewed disputes over control of the hills and the customary laws that apply there. With its tenure ending soon and Assembly elections due next year, the state government faces pressure to contain the hostilities, work with civil society to lower the rhetoric, act against armed groups with the help of security forces, and ensure that criminal law applies equally across communities in the hills.