Imphal: Political parties and social outfits have come out against the ‘controversial’ report by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on the Manipur crisis.
The Manipur People’s Party (MPP), one of the oldest regional parties, filed an FIR at the Imphal police station on Wednesday against the Delhi-based PUCL.
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In its complaint, the MPP alleged that the PUCL report is unfair, one-sided, and misleading, particularly toward the Meitei community.
The complaint also mentioned the killing of six people, three women and three children, by armed Kuki-Zo militants near the Barak River in 2024, which the report allegedly ignored.
The Manipur state unit of the Republican Party of India (Athawale) also filed an FIR with Imphal Police against the PUCL report.
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In its complaint, the RPI alleged that the report hinders peace efforts and may incite communal tension by falsely portraying the Meiteis as the aggressors.
The complaint also noted that the report omits the cases of Linthoingambi Hijam and Phijam Hemajit Singh, two Meitei students who went missing during the peak of ethnic violence in the state.
Mayanglangbam Boby Meitei, president of the social group People’s Alliance for Peace and Progressive, Manipur, lodged a similar FIR on Thursday.
He criticized the report for excluding references to narco-terrorism activities by certain Kuki-Zo factions, which he claimed have worsened law and order in the state.
The complaint further alleged that the report overlooked the destruction of forest offices and government properties by Kuki-Zo militants.
Two Members of Parliament, Leishemba Sanajaoba of the BJP and Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, Inner Manipur MP from the Congress party, also criticized the report, calling it “biased, insensitive, and an attempt to malign the Meitei community.”
Both MPs announced that they would file complaints against the Delhi-based PUCL.
Additionally, the Communist Party of India (CPI), Manipur State Council, condemned the report as biased and stated that it would also lodge an FIR soon.
Reacting to the 694-page report released by PUCL, CPI Manipur leader L. Sotinkumar accused the authors of undermining the already fragile peace process.
He pointed out that Atom Samarendra, a former journalist, and Yumkhaibam Kirankumar Singh, a social worker, both listed among the 32 individuals reported missing by the government, were presumed dead, yet not mentioned in the PUCL report.
The Independent People’s Tribunal on the Ongoing Ethnic Conflict in Manipur, constituted by PUCL in 2024, released its report on August 20, 2025, at the Press Club of India, New Delhi, in the presence of several jury and expert members.
PUCL had formed the tribunal in response to state-wide violence and alleged failures in constitutional governance.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, who chaired the tribunal, asserted that the violence, which erupted on May 3, 2023, was ethnically motivated and exacerbated by systemic failures.
The report recommended legal action against individuals responsible for hate propaganda and against authorities who allegedly failed to prevent the unrest.