Fresh Naga-Kuki clashes add to the humanitarian crisis from the Meitei-Kuki conflict
The situation in Manipur remains a mess. It has been three-and-a-half years since the violent conflict between the Meiteis and the Kukis started. The fires may have died down but the embers continue to snuff out lives.
The skirmishes between the Kukis and Nagas that started in February this year in the state continue to flare up leaving the state government exhausted. It is time the country woke up to the simmering discontent among various communities that has the potential to send lives in the border state into a bottomless pit of violence.
The Supreme Court was so shocked last week when it was told about the conditions in the relief camps that accommodate the refugees of the Meitei-Kuki conflict that it ordered the chief secretary to update it on the happenings. Estimates say that more than 700 persons died in the camps in the last three years. There were 30-odd unnatural deaths, too. In some cases, people took their own lives in the camps unable to bear the distress. The stark reality is that, while the riots that began on May 3, 2023, took the lives of about 200 people, their impact has caused the death of over three times that number.
The Naga-Kuki conflict is the latest to consume the state. More than 30 people belonging to either community besides security personnel have died. The latest in the series are the murders of two Kuki women and a Naga teen.
The state government, despite its best efforts, has not been able to address either of the conflicts on its own. The suspected presence of armed rebels who have been part of the decades-old strife makes the situation more complex. It is time the Union government and its agencies who have an understanding of the region come to the aid of the state. Manipur’s mess has deteriorated much; the state alone cannot handle it.
