On 3 May 2023, ethnic violence erupted in India's north-eastern state of Manipur between the Meitei people, a majority that lives in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki-Zo tribal community from the surrounding hills. According to government figures, as of 22 November 2024, 258 people have been killed in the violence and 60,000 people have been displaced. Earlier figures also mentioned over 1,000 injured, and 32 missing. 4,786 houses were burnt and 386 religious structures were vandalised, including temples and churches. Unofficial figures are higher.

The proximate cause of the violence was a row over an affirmative action measure. On 14 April 2023, the Manipur High Court passed an order that seemingly recommended a Scheduled Tribe status for the dominant Meitei community,Manipur HC directs state to recommend inclusion of Meetei/Meitei community in ST list, Imphal Free Press, 19 April 2023. Schulu Duo, ST status demand grows in Manipur: STDCM submits memorandum, Borderlens, 18 April 2023. a decision later criticised by the Supreme Court. On 3 May, the tribal communities held protest rallies against the Meitei demand for Scheduled Tribe status, while the Meitei community held counter-rallies and counter-blockades. After one of these rallies, clashes broke out between Kuki and Meitei groups near the mutual border of the Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts, followed by house burning.

Feelings were already inflamed prior to 3 May due to the policies of the state government headed by chief minister N. Biren Singh, himself a Meitei, who was seen vilifying Kukis with vices such as "poppy cultivation", "forest encroachment", "drug smuggling", and harbouring "illegal immigrants". Kukis had held a rally in March 2023 against his policies,Tora Agarwala, Jimmy Leivon, Why Manipur govt withdrew from an SoO agreement with two tribal insurgent groups, The Indian Express, 14 March 2023. and in another incident, burnt down a venue the chief minister was meant to inaugurate.Jimmy Leivon, What led to the violence in Manipur's Churachandpur before CM N Biren Singh's visit?, The Indian Express, 1 May 2023. Updated 4 May 2023. The chief minister also patronised Meitei nationalist militias, named Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, which carried the flag for his policies and were primed to target the Kuki community.Explained: Who Are Meitei Radical Group Arambai Tenggol And Why Did They Summon Manipur Lawmakers?, Outlook, 25 January 2024. "Reports suggest that the group enjoys the patronage of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba. The group's Facebook page displays images of its members interacting with the chief minister, emphasising the close ties." They were active in the 3 May rallies of the Meiteis.

Once initiated, the violence quickly spread to the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur town and the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley, targeting the minority community in each area. While the Kukis limited themselves to house-burning,Surinder Kaur, Meitei Christians Caught in Middle of Manipur Violence, Christianity Today, 30 May 2023. “At least the Kukis had the burden to give safe passage to Meiteis before things went out of their hands, as the mob culture was growing on both sides. Unlike the Kukis who were massacred in the valley, there was no casualty of the Meiteis in the hills,” he said. the Meitei mobs in the valley, mobilising in thousands, engaged in wanton killing of Kuki civilians living amongst them, including students, officials, soldiers and even legislators.Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Aakash Hassan, Video of women attacked in Manipur breaks silence on systematic gang rapes in India, The Guardian, 22 July 2023. "Yet the speed at which the violence suddenly took hold and spread across the state by early May took many by surprise as Meitei mobs quickly mobilised in their thousands and began setting fire to Kuki villages, and Kuki women who fell into their clutches were brutalised."Shivnarayan Rajpurohit, At least 36 dead in violence in Manipur; mob came with 'JCB, arms’, Newslaundry, 6 May 2023. "A tax assistant, a CRPF jawan and a class 10 student are said to be among those found dead." According to Reuters, 77 Kukis and 10 Meiteis died within the first week.

On 18 May, the 10 elected legislators belonging to the Kuki community unanimously demanded a 'separate administration' for Kukis, claiming that the Kukis could no longer live amongst the Meiteis.Esha Roy, The demand for a Kuki homeland, its history and rationale, The Indian Express, 18 May 2023. Days after clashes between Manipur's Kuki-Zomi tribes and the majority Meitei community left more than 70 people dead, the state's 10 Kuki-Zomi MLAs demanded “a separate administration under the Constitution”, saying “our people can no longer exist under Manipur... [and] to live amidst the Meiteis again is as good as a death...”. A month later, the influential Meitei civil body COCOMI declared a "Manipuri national war" against "Chin-Kuki narco-terrorists", essentially pitting the two communities against each other.Prabin Kalita, Manipur violence: Won't surrender arms, allow combing operations, say Imphal groups, The Times of India, 8 June 2023. By this time, the situation had already taken the shape of a civil war with both the communities arming themselves, some with licensed guns and some with advanced weapons, and setting up bunkers to defend themselves. Meitei militias led mobs of civilians to raid state police armouries and loot sophisticated arms matching those of Kukis, whose militant groups were presumed to supply arms to civilians. By October, 6,000 arms and 600,000 rounds of ammunition were said to have been looted, in addition to mortars, grenades, bullet-proof vests, police uniforms etc.Ritika Chopra, Manipur: Almost six months after clashes began, only 25% of looted arms found, The Indian Express, 29 October 2023.

Chief minister Biren Singh stuck to his position through the mayhem, claiming to work towards peace and defying many calls for his resignation. Partisan state and police bias were widely alleged. In the general election for the Union Parliament, Singh's Bharatiya Janata Party lost both the seats in the state to opposition Indian National Congress. Eventually, a Kuki civil body approached the Supreme Court of India with purported audio tapes of Singh, where he is heard claiming that he himself instigated the violence, and a reputed forensic laboratory said that the voice belongs to him with 93% certainty.Abhinay Lakshman, 93% probability that voice in leaked audio is of Manipur CM: Truth Labs, The Hindu, 4 February 2025.Manipur Violence: Forensic Report on Tapes Alleging CM Biren Singh's Role Ordered, Newsreel Asia, 3 February 2025. Facing the threat of a no confidence motion in the impending Assembly session, Singh resigned on 9 February 2025, after 20 months of intermittent violence.

President's Rule was declared a few days later, whereby the Union government took direct control of the state administration through its appointed Governor. The violence between Meiteis and Kukis largely subsided during the President's Rule, but very little progress towards a peace settlement was made.

On 4 February 2026, the Government of Manipur was reinstated with BJP leader Yumnam Khemchand Singh as the Chief Minister of Manipur. Soon after he was sworn in, a new phase of the conflict began between Kuki and Naga communities initially at the village of Litan, but gradually spread to other parts of the state.

Background

Manipur is a state in northeast India, bordering Myanmar to its east and south. The Imphal Valley constitutes about 10% of the geographical area of the state with 57% of the population, predominantly Meitei, who are majority Hindus, with minorities of Muslims and native Sanamahism followers. The surrounding hills constitute 90% of the geographical area of the state with 43% of the population belonging to 34 tribal groups broadly categorised as Nagas and Kukis, who follow Christianity. The Nagas dominate the northern districts while the Kukis are predominant in the south. The tribal people have the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, whereas the Meitei have been accorded Other Backward Class (OBC) status, with some classified as Scheduled Castes (SC) in certain areas. Tensions between the Meitei Hindus and the tribal Christians is a long-standing problem, exacerbated by the long-standing insurgency in the state and that in the neighbouring state of Nagaland, where a long-standing demand of Manipur's merger into the Naga-majority state by Naga insurgent groups like NSCM has fuelled ethnic tensions, imposition of AFSPA & counter-protests against army brutalities led by Irom Sharmila Chanu.

Scholars write that the hill tribes, whose administration had largely been left to the respective chiefs known as Khullakpa by the Meitei Kings, came to be administered by the British after the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891. The British administrative control became more intensive after the Kuki Rebellion of 1917–1919 and they continued to administer the hill areas directly until 1947. Scholars believe the colonial administration employed the "divide and rule" policy which widened existing divide between the peoples. On the contrary, the hill regions are noted by some scholars as forming part of Zomia inhabited by "non-state" peoples. They came to be administered only after the Kuki Rebellion,"On the other hand, the hill areas of the present-day Manipur had been a free hill country and largely unadministered even during the British rule till the Kuki uprising (1917–19). It is treated as ‘illegible space’ (Scott 2000) and a separate sub-cultural zone within the larger region known as ‘Zomia’ and the people regarded as ‘non-state peoples’ (Scott 2009: 23)." After Indian independence, the hill tribes continued to enjoy a protected status. Even though the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960, prohibits transfer of tribal land to non-tribals except by special permission,Rahul Karmarkar, Belief that Meiteis cannot settle in Manipur's hills is a myth, says leader of Kuki apex body, The Hindu, 21 May 2023. the seventh amendment (2015) is seen as an attempt by the valley dwellers to grab tribal land."One of the main concerns in the agitation against the three ‘anti-tribal bills’ passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly is the one that has to do with the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960, that is the MLR&LR (Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2015. The main opposition to this bill is the idea of land grabs by the valley dwellers and the state's hegemony through forceful intrusion to the land resources of the tribal people and infringement of their customary rights (Kipgen 2017: 506)" The valley-based Meitei dominate the political establishment. Of the 60 constituencies of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, 40 are held by the valley and 20 are in the hill districts. The tribal population is not prohibited from settling in the valley region. Kukis state that they do not want to come to the valley but they have to since there are no roads, schools or hospitals in the hills.

Tribal groups have complained that the government spending is unduly concentrated in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley.

Scheduled Tribe status for Meitei