Guwahati: Gunshots are back in Manipur with a new vigour.
If hopes of peace emerged, they are dissipating.
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And with that, the furtherance of frequent bereavement is on the anvil.
Dread it because the options for serenity are dwindling.
And guess what – violence returns ahead of reports of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the state in the second week of September.
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In the twilight of August 30, 2025, violence struck again in Manipur, underscoring the fragility of peace under the President’s rule.
Dip Saikia, an Assamese journalist from Jorhat working for Nagaland-based Hornbill TV, was shot twice while covering a flower festival in Lai village, Senapati district.
Injured in his armpit and leg by what police suspect was a pressurized air rifle, Saikia was rushed to hospital and later shifted to Nagaland.
Villagers apprehended the shooter, Litingse Thonger Naga, who claimed he mistook Saikia for a bird.
Saikia, however, voiced suspicions of foul play, linking it to recent threats after being berated by Nagaland’s deputy chief minister.
Hours later, in neighboring Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, Nehkam Jomhao, a 59-year-old Assamese Thadou community leader and chairman of the Thadou Literature Society, was abducted from his Manja home.
Also Read: Manipur: Nagaland TV journalist shot at
Tortured, mutilated and drowned in a river, his murder is blamed on suspected Kuki militants retaliating for his participation in an August 6 peace meeting in Imphal with Meitei groups.
Six suspects have been arrested, but his body remains missing .
These incidents, both targeting Assamese figures, highlight the spillover of Manipur’s ethnic strife beyond its borders.
The conflict ignited on May 3, 2023, in Churachandpur district during a “Tribal Solidarity March” by Kuki-Zo communities protesting a Manipur High Court directive to consider granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the valley-dwelling Meitei majority.
What began as an arson at a Kuki war memorial escalated into widespread clashes, pitting Meiteis against Kuki-Zo tribes over land rights, resources, and affirmative action.
Rooted in historical tensions exacerbated by British colonial divisions, post independence migrations, and recent anti-drug drives displacing hill communities the violence has morphed into a brutal ethnic war.
By August 2025, the toll is staggering: official figures peg deaths at 258-260 since 2023, with over 1,000 injured. Among the dead, 98 Kuki-Zo, 67 Meitei, and others unidentified, including security personnel.
Sexual violence has scarred the conflict, with Supreme Court-monitored probes into rapes, including the infamous parading of Kuki women naked in viral videos.
Killings, often targeted, include militants and civilians.
Lootings have stripped homes and armories arming both sides.
Displacement affects 60,000-70,000 people, crammed into relief camps leading to job losses, disrupted education and economic ruin.
Thousands of farmers can’t access fields, businesses shuttered, and youth migrate for work, deepening poverty in this already underdeveloped region.
President’s Rule, imposed February 13, 2025, after Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s resignation amid escalating unrest, centralised control under New Delhi.
Extended multiple times most recently on August 5, 2025 to February 13, 2026 officials cite “prevailing peace” with no major violence from December 2024 to April 2025.
Yet, sporadic attacks persist – drone bombings in 2024, fresh killings in Jiribam and now these August incidents signal unresolved grievances.
Peace talks falter amid mutual distrust.
Meiteis demand territorial integrity.
Kukis seek separate administration.
Central forces patrol, but militants exploit borders with Myanmar.
Humanitarian aid flows, but camps overflow, and justice lags SITs probe hundreds of cases, yielding few convictions.
As Manipur marks over two years of agony, hope dims.
The recent attacks underscore how ethnic flames engulf innocents, urging urgent federal intervention for dialogue, rehabilitation and accountability.
Without it, the hills may burn indefinitely.