Fragile Promises in Manipur

• By Thetripurapost Desk, Itanagar
• Sep 08, 2025
• 718

Progress in Manipur continues to prove elusive, with New Delhi’s latest interventions unravelling almost as soon as they were announced. The Centre sought to showcase two developments as signs of improvement: the revival of a tripartite suspension of operations with two Kuki-Zo insurgent groups — earlier scrapped by then chief minister N. Biren Singh — and a pledge from the Kuki-Zo Council to allow unhindered movement along a vital national highway.

Yet, within days, a major Kuki-Zo faction rejected the highway agreement, while Meitei bodies condemned the extension of the ceasefire as a dangerous legitimisation of Kuki violence. Such sharp reactions underscore how little credibility statecraft commands in Manipur today. The ethnic divide is so profound that even civil society groups, once expected to act as mediators, have themselves hardened into partisan actors.

The persistence of these hostilities is rooted in far deeper fractures — over land, identity, political power and economic insecurity. With the state under president’s rule, the absence of an accountable local leadership has widened the vacuum. Security management remains vital, but to reduce Manipur’s turmoil to a law-and-order issue is to miss the essence of the crisis: a complete breakdown of trust between valley-based Meiteis and hill-dwelling Kukis.

Unless New Delhi adopts a more inclusive and sensitive approach that addresses grievances beyond security concerns, pledges will continue to collapse under the weight of mistrust — and peace will remain as ephemeral as progress.