Manipur districts tense after day of violence
Two districts of Manipur remained tense on Friday (June 20, 2025), a day after unknown gunmen injured a Meitei farmer and a Kuki woman was shot dead later.
A shutdown was observed across the Churachandpur district, dominated by the Kuki-Zo people, to protest the woman's killing. She was identified as Hoikholhing Haokip, the wife of the chief of Langchingmanbi village adjoining the Bishnupur district, where the Meitei farmer was attacked.
The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum had called the shutdown, demanding 'immediate action against those responsible for this atrocity, concrete steps from the Centre to ensure the protection of tribal lives and territory, and an independent investigation into the repeated buffer zone violations.'
The people of Bishnupur, one of the five districts comprising the Meitei-majority Imphal Valley, continued to block a highway leading to the Churachandpur district. They demanded the arrest of the assailants of farmer Ningthoujam Biren Singh, who was shot in his left arm on Thursday.
Earlier, the Manipur Police said the security forces came under fire from unknown armed miscreants after the farmer was shot in Bishnupur's Phubala area. '...the forces retaliated accordingly. During the crossfire, one woman from Langchingmanbi village was found dead with a bullet injury,' it said.
Manipur, scarred by the ethnic conflict between the Kuki-Zos and Meiteis, was relatively calm after the imposition of the President's Rule on February 13 this year. More than 250 people had died and some 60,000 were displaced in the clashes that had erupted on May 3, 2023.
Also read | Manipur marks two years of ethnic violence by remembering victims
Meanwhile, the All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO) condemned the Phubala incident, saying it suspected a conspiracy between the attackers and the security forces. It said the incident happened near a bunker of the Sashastra Seema Bal, whose personnel were inactive.
The organisation underlined the importance of holding accountable the security personnel found complicit or negligent, apart from the attackers. 'The people of Manipur express deep dissatisfaction with the Ministry of Home Affairs' performance, as the region continues to grapple with ongoing conflicts and violence despite the government's claims of working towards restoring normalcy,' the AMUCO said.
The organisation also questioned the work done by security adviser Kuldiep Singh, who was sent by the Centre to resolve the ongoing crisis plaguing the State.
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