Mutual blaming, abductions, and retaliatory attacks between the Naga and Kuki communities are the main features of the escalating turmoil in Manipur hill districts. Falsehood of a simple inter-community feud is a cover-up for the actual disentanglement of protection systems wherein people belonging to two sides of the conflict worry most about. In reality they are the ones who are selectively being targeted and that the state is in fact their perpetrator.
Instead of dealing with or stopping the violence, the state machinery response has been highly scattered and on the sidelines letting the disbelief and terror amongst different ethnic groups still grow and become a permanent feature.
Naga and Kuki Civilians as Repeated Victims
On recent occasions abductions shutdowns killings and other such incidents have only added to each other trace of Nagas and Kukis feeling that to one degree or other their respective communities are being targeted in different areas of the state. Apart from Kangpokpi Ukhrul Churachandpur, and Senapati where people are continuously reporting the feeling of being not only unsafe due to unknown armed groups, but that this is also because of really law and order is deteriorating.
Every person killed is being rapidly dramatized with their ethnic affiliation; so, each and every single victim is seen as a representative of a community being attacked and this is instead of seeing the crime as a single and separate incident.
Naga and Kuki Civilians as Double Victims
Latest acts of unlawfully detaining people, closing down normal activities, and murdering individuals have strengthened a joint view of Nagas and Kukis that somehow their respective communities are getting targeted by the authorities in different locations of the most. People in areas like Kangpokpi Ukhrul Churachandpur, and Senapati not only fear unknown armed attackers but also the general collapse of law and order.
Every single case becomes a matter of ethnic identity, Because of this, each victim is considered belonging to the community under attack instead of a mere victim of an ordinary crime.
Abductions Becoming the Basis of Conflicts
The abduction of people followed by further retaliatory actions has led to a dangerous vicious circle of narrative whereby both the Nagas and Kukis accuse each other of deliberate targeting. In the absence of thorough investigation and accountability, the incidents get converted into ethnic narratives which only serve to increase animosity and the lack of trust.
In reality the concept of justice is no longer unbiased it is viewed through the prism of identity, victims are not recognized as individuals needing immediate protection, but as symbols of a collective victimhood.
Militant Influence and the Diminishing of Civilian Space
One major element escalating the crisis is the enduring presence of both fully-armed and semi-armed guns among the communities. Such elements frequently manipulate the public through making statements, issuing shutdowns, or taking responsibility or refusing claims, which is only a further confusion of the civilians’ sufferings and political matters.
Under such conditions, the Naga and Kuki populations find themselves deeply entrenched in the overlapping zones of these armed groups where each citizen’s security is continuously endangered by these dual power structures that are working independently of any formal accountability.
Shutdowns and Blockades as the Whole Community’s Suffering
Occasional shutting down of regions in Naga and Kuki areas are seen as protests or forms of resistance that Still, only serve to make the civilians more vulnerable. Basic utilities are affected, people’s movement gets limited, and entire communities become de facto hostages to political demands.
These shutdowns in fact, instead of safeguarding the people from being targeted, frequently end up exposing them more to a siege, Because of this the ordinary citizens become the unintended victims of a conflict they had no part in.
The Absence of the State Response
What really stands out in this crisis is the evident lack of state intervention to protect the people. Police inquiries in cases of kidnapping or violence are mostly either postponed indefinitely, or get severely restricted due to local politics. Security responses usually react after the tensions have already escalated instead of taking preventive measures.
This lack of a consistent authority has led both communities to feel equally vulnerable and sometimes selectively ignored.
Mutual distrust & Unsolved Crisis
While the cases remain unresolved, the Naga and Kuki communities make up separate versions of the other side’s targeting and injustice. Every unresolved case gives suspects more reasons for the other being responsible or protected by the system.
Unsettled grievances ensure that impunity rather than accountability remains the main character of the conflict.
The Destroyed Security System
It is civilians, who are totally none of the enemies, that continue to pay the highest price of this deadly cycle. Families of missing persons, displaced populations, and communities under shutdown conditions are kept at the edge of constant stress and despair. Education trade movement, and other aspects of life remain suspended during the recurring moments of tension.
