Manipur’s Uneasy Calm: A Dangerous Silence in Our Own Backyard

From Imphal to Churachandpur, from Kangpokpi to Moreh, Manipur today sits under an uneasy calm. The gunfire has decreased, markets have partially reopened, and highways are operating under heavy security. Yet for ordinary citizens, this is not peace. It is a tense silence layered with fear, separation, and deep mistrust. Neighbours who once shared daily life now live across guarded buffer zones. What Manipur is witnessing is not reconciliation - but enforced coexistence under military watch.

The violence that erupted in May 2023 did not arise overnight. Years of unresolved tensions over land rights, identity, political representation, and administrative accountability were allowed to fester. The controversy surrounding the possible inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe list became the spark that ignited long-standing insecurities among the hill communities. What followed was one of the darkest chapters in the state’s history—mass displacement, destruction of homes and places of worship, ethnic targeting, and the collapse of public trust in institutions.

Even today, thousands of internally displaced persons remain trapped in relief camps across the valley and hills. Many children have lost access to regular education, families are without livelihoods, and entire settlements lie in ruins. The so-called calm has come at the cost of permanent social division. People no longer travel freely across districts. Economic life has split along ethnic lines. This is not the Manipur known for coexistence.

The deepest wound, however, is political. The crisis has exposed severe failures of governance. Delayed intervention, allegations of selective action, and the absence of visible accountability have eroded public confidence in the state administration. While the Centre has deployed security forces, effective political engagement with all communities has remained inadequate. Peace cannot be built by rifles alone.

It is time for clear, firm policy steps. First, an independent judicial commission with full powers must investigate the violence, arms looting, and administrative lapses. Second, time-bound disarmament of all illegal civilian weapons must be enforced without ethnic bias. Third, the government must immediately launch a comprehensive rehabilitation policy, ensuring safe resettlement, compensation, and livelihood restoration for displaced families. Fourth, structured political dialogue with the involved parties under neutral mediation is no longer optional - it is urgent.

Manipur’s instability also carries national consequences. Located on the India-Myanmar border, the state is central to border security and regional connectivity. Continued unrest weakens India’s eastern frontier and emboldens underground networks.

An uneasy calm is not stability. It is a warning. If political courage, constitutional fairness, and inclusive dialogue are further delayed, Manipur risks sliding into a permanent state of fractured coexistence. The people of this land deserve not just silence - but justice, dignity, and lasting peace.