Three years on, Manipur remains tense amid ongoing violence

May 3, 2026 marked three years since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in 2023, triggered by protests against a High Court recommendation to extend Schedule...

What Happened

May 3, 2026 marked three years since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in 2023, triggered by protests against a High Court recommendation to extend Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community.
As of March 30, 2026, at least 58,821 people remain displaced — living in 174 relief camps — with 7,894 houses permanently destroyed and 2,646 partially destroyed since the conflict began.
The death toll has surpassed 250 lives lost since May 2023, making it India's longest-running period of ethnic conflict in recent decades.
Violence has continued intermittently into 2026, with incidents also reported from Naga-populated areas in addition to the primary Meitei–Kuki-Zo flashpoints.
Cabinet expansion in the state remains stalled as the ongoing unrest has made political consensus difficult to achieve.
The Centre has sanctioned over Rs 947 crore for relief and rehabilitation of affected persons, and 3,000 prefabricated houses have been constructed by the Manipur Police Housing Corporation as temporary shelter.

Static Topic Bridges

The Meitei–Kuki-Zo Ethnic Divide and Its Historical Roots

The conflict is rooted in a long-standing asymmetry between the Meitei community (the valley's dominant group, constituting roughly 64.6% of Manipur's population) and the Kuki-Zo tribal communities inhabiting the surrounding hill districts (covering about 90% of the state's geographic area).

Meiteis are predominantly Hindu and live in the Imphal Valley, which accounts for only ~10% of the state's land area but contains most economic and political activity.
Kuki-Zo communities (comprising multiple tribes — Kuki, Zomi, Hmar, Paite, etc.) are predominantly Christian and enjoy Scheduled Tribe status with constitutional protections over hill land.
The April 2023 Manipur High Court direction recommending that the Meitei community be considered for ST status alarmed Kuki-Zo groups, who feared it would allow Meiteis to acquire hill land — threatening tribal demography and livelihoods.
The violent response on May 3, 2023 led to rapid ethnic polarisation, displacement across community lines, and the effective partition of many areas into Meitei-majority and Kuki-majority zones.

Connection to this news: Three years later, this ethnic polarisation remains the structural barrier to resolution — displacement continues because communities cannot return to areas now controlled by the opposing group.

Article 371C and Special Provisions for Manipur's Hill Areas

Article 371C of the Constitution provides a special provision for Manipur, specifically establishing the Hill Areas Committee of the Manipur Legislative Assembly and mandating the President to ensure its role in legislation affecting hill areas.

Unlike Article 371A (Nagaland) and Article 371G (Mizoram), which confer broad protections including land rights, Article 371C focuses on legislative process — it requires that laws affecting hill districts be referred to and considered by the Hill Areas Committee.
This provision was designed to protect tribal interests in a state where valley and hill populations have historically had competing economic and political interests.
The Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, applicable in Manipur, restricts entry and settlement by non-residents — a demand long sought by Meitei groups as well, partly to protect against demographic change.

Connection to this news: The demand for ST status by Meiteis was seen by hill tribal communities as an attempt to circumvent Article 371C's land protections — converting what was a judicial recommendation into an existential threat to tribal land security, directly precipitating the 2023 violence.

Internal Displacement and India's Legal Framework

India does not have a standalone national law on internal displacement. Displaced persons are managed under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and state-level relief frameworks — without the specific legal protections afforded to refugees under international law.

The UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (1998) — non-binding — define IDPs as persons forced to flee but who remain within national borders; India has not codified these principles.
Relief camps in Manipur house the majority of the 58,821 displaced persons; conditions and long-term rehabilitation planning remain inadequate relative to the scale of displacement.
Cross-community reconciliation processes require political will at both state and Central levels; the absence of a cabinet in functional order compounds the governance deficit.

Connection to this news: The three-year mark without resolution illustrates the gap between emergency relief (which has been provided) and durable solutions — rehabilitation, return, or settlement with security guarantees — that the legal and governance framework has not been able to deliver.

Insurgency, Arms, and Internal Security in Northeast India

The Manipur conflict has an arms dimension: Kuki militant groups and valley-based village defence volunteers (VDFs) have acquired weapons — some reportedly looted from state armouries — creating a sub-state armed actor problem alongside the ethnic conflict.

In May 2023, mobs raided police armouries and commandeered rifles, raising the lethality of inter-community violence beyond what unarmed crowds could inflict.
Multiple insurgent groups operate in Manipur's hills under various ceasefire or suspension of operations agreements with the Centre and state — the ethnic conflict has complicated the management of these pre-existing arrangements.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) applies to parts of Manipur; its selective application and the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) has been a recurring point of debate.

Connection to this news: Continued violence three years in — despite heavy CAPF deployment — reflects that the security response alone cannot resolve a conflict whose root causes are political, economic, and ethnic. The persistence of armed actors on both sides requires a political settlement alongside security management.

Key Facts & Data

Conflict start date: May 3, 2023 — sparked by protests against a court recommendation for Meitei ST status.
Deaths: 250+ since May 2023.
Displaced persons: 58,821 (as of March 30, 2026) across 174 relief camps.
Houses destroyed: 7,894 (permanent); 2,646 (partial).
Temporary shelter: 3,000 prefabricated houses constructed by Manipur Police Housing Corporation.
Central relief sanctioned: Rs 947+ crore.
Geographic context: Valley (~10% of land area) vs. hills (~90%) — structural basis of the land and political contestation.
Constitutional provision: Article 371C (Hill Areas Committee, Manipur).
Meitei share of population: ~64.6%; tribal hill communities: ~35.4% (2011 Census basis).