Konsa Khul or Konsakhul, also called Konsaram, is a tribal village in the Kangpokpi district of Manipur, India, on the eastern slopes of the Koubru hills range. It lies to the southwest of Leimakhong at an elevation of 1200 m. The village is populated by Liangmai people, a tribe of Naga people.
For several decades, Konsakhul has been engaged in land disputes with the neighbouring Leilon Vaiphei village, and ended up with a major hostage crisis during the 2023–2026 Manipur conflict, which resulted in the death of 6 people belonging to Konsakhul.Six men found dead after abduction in India's Manipur, police says, Reuters, 10 June 2026.
Geography
From the peak 7647 in Koubru hills range, two streams flow down: the Singda stream (Vabom Luipi) on the west and Tagiu stream (Tuipet gom) in the east.Leilon Vaiphei village negates Konsakhul claims, The Sangai Express, 1 April 2023. The Konsakhul village is on the eastern bank of the Singda stream at an elevation of . On the bank of the Tagiu stream, about 1.5 km to the east of Konsakhul is a larger Vaiphei village called Leilon Vaiphei. There have been persistent disputes in recent decades between Konsakhul and Leilon Vaiphei regarding historical land ownership.Konsakhul village issues eviction notice to Leilon village in Manipur's Kangpokpi, Land Conflict Watch, February 2025.
Konsakhul was originally on a route between Samuk on the western side of the Koubru range and Senjam Khunou in Imphal Valley. After the growth of the Leimakhong town, an alternative road has been laid from Konsakhul to Leimakhong, which passes through the Leilon Vaiphei village. Called the "Konsakhul Road", it is now the main transportation link to Konsakhul. There have been occasions where Leilon Vaiphei villagers intercepted travellers along the road, leading to crises.Detained villagers of Konsakhul rescued, Imphal Free Press, 27 March 2023.
History The 1944 survey map shows a village called "Waiphei Khul" on the bank of the Singda stream. This is presumably a precursor to the present-day Leilon Vaiphei village. A few metres below Waiphei Khul is an unlabelled village which is likely Konsakhul.Mapsheet "83 H", Fourth Edition, Survey of India, 1944. The present-day residents of Konsakhul display a 1920 lease agreement between a chief of Konsakhul named Phengamang and a certain Shonglal Khaute, who was seeking to establish "a hamlet of Vaiphei within the traditional boundary of Konsakhul". The lease was to last 100 years.</ref> This agreement could have referred to the Waiphei Khul marked on the 1944 map. At present, there is no village at that location ().
In 1947 Hill People's Regulation lists Konsakhul as "Konsa Kacha Naga" with 16 houses. "Leilon Waiphei" and "Leilon Waiphei Khunow" (Leilon Khunou) were listed with a total of 79 houses.
In the 1961 census, Konsakhul was noted to have a population of 73 people. Leilon Vaiphei and Leilon Khunou had a combined population of 503 people. (Konsakhul misspelled as "Kousakhup".) During the Kuki–Naga clashes of the 1990s, many Naga villages were displaced from the present-day Kangpokpi district (and Kuki villages displaced from Tamenglong and Ukhrul districts). Konsakhul does not appear to have been affected by these trends. In fact, its population doubled from 112 to 210 during the period 1901–2001, indicating that Liangmai Nagas felt safe in the neighbourhood and possibly attracted other Liangmais to settle here.Primary Census Abstract (Rural) - Manipur - 1991, Census Digital Library, 27 June 2022.
Despite the amicable relations between the two villages, there has been an unresolved land dispute between them. The Konsakhul village cites the 1920 lease agreement, per which Leilon Vaiphei was supposed to have paid an annual tax in terms of paddy produce. The Leilon Vaiphei denies these claims saying that it was already in existence in 1917–1918 with 37 tax-paying households. It challenged Konsakhul village to submit the alleged 1920 agreement for forensic examination.Konsakhul village authority counters Leilon village, Ukhrul Times, 1 April 2023.
National Sports University dispute The lands of L. Tangnuam (Haraothel), reportedly formed in 1966 as an offshoot of Leilon Vaiphei, came for contestation when, in 2015, a National Sports University was proposed for construction in its vicinity. The Kuki Students Organisation of Sadar Hills first raised an alarm based on the maps published in newspapers.KSO Sadar Hills calls 24 hour total bandh over Moidangpok incident, Imphal Free Press, 4 May 2015. It transpired that L. Tangnuam laid claim to out of allocated to the University.Civil bodies demand settlement of sports varsity land dispute, Imphal Free Press, 31 July 2017. Khelen Thokchom, Sports varsity hits land wall again - Villagers seek compensation, The Telegraph (India), 10 August 2017. On 17 August 2017, Konsakhul and Leilon Vaiphei issued a joint statement claiming to be the parent villages of L. Tangnuam, and demanding that their approval must be sought for the construction.Leilon, Konsa Khul rebut NSUHPC statement, Imphal Free Press, 17 August 2017. By 2020, a Konsakhul Area Joint Action Committee was formed to contest the land acquisition, and Konsakhul became the lead disputant.Manipur: Committee bans NSU construction activities at Konsakhul, Imphal Free Press, 14 November 2020. It was in this context that Konsakhul's claim of having leased out its land to the Kukis in the past first appeared in the press.Rajkumar Bobichand, Controversy Over National Sports University Shows Evidences That Inept Handling by State Government Led to Ugly Inter-Community Frictions, Imphal Review of Arts and Politics, 30 January 2021.
Demographics As per the 2011 census, Konsakhul has a population of 295 people inhabiting 61 households. Of these, 158 are male and 137 are female. This gives Konsakhul a sex ratio of 867 which is lower than Manipur state average of 985. The literacy rate of Konsakhul is 76.36%, close to the state average. Male literacy stands at 83.82% and female literacy at 68.03%. Almost all the population of Konsakhul belong to Scheduled Tribes (Liangmai people).PCA TV: Primary census abstract at town, village and ward level, Manipur - District Senapati - 2011, Census of India, 2011.Konsa Khul Population - Senapati, Manipur, census2011.co.in, retrieved 11 September 2026.
Recent developments 2023 clash In March 2023, two villagers of Konsakhul passing through Leilon Vaiphei enroute to their village were detained by the latter. Police from Leimakhong police station quickly came and had them released, but their vehicles, including a JCB excavator, were allegedly destroyed.Detained villagers of Konsakhul rescued, Imphal Free Press, 27 March 2023. Fresh violence in Konsakhul, 144 CrPC invoked, Imphal Free Press, 28 March 2023. The Leilon Vaiphei chief later issued a statement saying that the Leilon Area Siel Society (LASS), in which both the communities were members, had summoned one of the detained individuals in the past for destroying fences and illegally shooting mithuns. But the man failed to appear. Hence the villagers used the opportunity to detain him for questioning.Leilon Vaiphei village negates Konsakhul claims, The Sangai Express, 1 April 2023.
The matters did not rest there. The following day, there was a clash between the two villages and some 28 people were injured. Afterwards, there were verbal exchanges between the two villages. Konsakhul village authority repeated its claims that Leilon Vaiphei was sitting on land that was leased from Konsakhul. Leilon Vaiphei denied the claim and challenged Konsakhul to submit the alleged lease agreement for forensic examination.Leilon Vaiphei was a tenant : Konsakhul, The Sangai Express, via e-pao.net, 1 April 2023. During the to-and-fro exchanges, the village authority also claimed that "21 [Kuki-Zo] villages" had sprung up within its boundary, and suggested that they were made up of "illegal immigrants" brought from Burma. In response, the 21 villages demanded an apology and threatened to blockade all roads leading to Konsakhul.21 villages in Kangpokpi dist demand apology from Konsakhul village chairman, Ukhrul Times, 8 April 2023.Konsakhul controversy boiling again, Imphal Free Press, 9 April 2023.
2025 flare-ups In January 2025, in the midst of the Manipur conflict, the Konsakhul village alleged that a Liangmai Naga woman at the K. Lungwiram (Konsakhul Lungwiram) village near Leimakhong was obstructed by a group of Kuki-Zo men from levelling of her land, and even that they had "assaulted" her.Nagaland: Naga Woman Allegedly Assaulted by Kuki Miscreants in Leimakhong, The Sentinel, 8 January 2025. Holding Leilon Vaiphei responsible, Konsakhul declared its villagers had violated the trust of Liangmai Nagas as "tenants", and gave an "eviction notice".Konsakhul Naga Village issues Eviction notice to Leilon Village as Lease Expires, Ukhrul Times, 8 January 2025.Manipur: Konsakhul Village authority gives ultimatum to Leilon Vaiphei members after 'assault' incident, India Today NE, 8 January 2025. The chief of Leilon Vaiphei denied the allegations as baseless,False Assault Claims Fuel Unrest, Leilon Chief Sets the Record Straight, The Hills Journal, 10 January 2025. but a Liangmai women's organisation blockaded the Sak-Puiluang Road, a vital lifeline for the Kuki-Zo people as part of the hill road connecting Churachandpur and Kangpokpi.Manipur: Liangmai Women Union Continues SP Road Blockade, Demands Apology from Kukis for Assault, The Sentinel, 10 January 2025. Amid rising tensions, the district administration imposed a curfew on Konsakhul and Leilon Vaiphei villages.Manipur: Curfew imposed in Konsakhul and Leilon Vaiphei villages of Kangpokpi district amidst unrest, India Today NE, 11 January 2025. The blockade appears to have been lifted after a few days.Koubru Range Liangmai Women Union relaxes bandh on SP Road for 72 hrs, Impact TV Manipur, 13 January 2025.
This was followed by exchanges of claims and counter-claims in newspaper columns by Liangmai and Kuki-Zo commentators.Dirinamai Liangchi, Behind the Veil: Kuki's Controversial Identity and the Conflict That Persist (P-I), Ukhrul Times, 17 February 2025.Dirinamai Liangchi, Behind the Veil: Kuki’s Controversial Identity and the Conflict That Persist (P-II), Ukhrul Times, 19 February 2025.Young Kuki, Rebuttal to the deliberate lies and propaganda against the Kuki people, The Sangai Express, via e-pao.net, 19 February 2025. The organisation called "Young Kuki" questioned the authenticity of the claimed 1920 lease agreement by pointing out that it was anachronistically written with a ballpoint pen, which did not even exist in the year in question.“We Won’t Be Silenced”: Young Kuki Group Denounces Historical “Distortions”, Power Corridors, 19 February 2025.