DCEMBER 17, 2025
A sudden burst of violence in Manipur’s Bishnupur district has shattered fragile peace efforts, triggering panic, renewed displacement fears, and widespread condemnation, even as the central government extended the tenure of a key inquiry commission.
On the evening of Tuesday, December 16, unidentified armed individuals fired multiple rounds of gunshots and launched projectiles using locally made bomb launchers (“Pompi”) from hills in the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district. The target was the fringe Meitei villages of Phougakchao Ikhai and Torbung in the Bishnupur district.
The timing was deeply sensitive. The attack occurred mere hours after Manipur’s Director General of Police concluded a high-level security review meeting in #Churachandpur and just one day after 389 Meitei internally displaced persons (IDPs) from 97 families were officially resettled in those very areas.
Security forces exchanged fire for approximately an hour before reinforcements contained the situation. While no fatalities were immediately reported, property was damaged, and severe panic spread among the recently returned families. Combined security teams later recovered three “Pompi” launchers from fields in Kuki-dominated areas near the site.
Conflicting Narratives
The incident has sparked a war of words.Local #Meitei residents and civil society groups allege a calculated attack by #Kuki militants to derail rehabilitation and force re-displacement.
In contrast, the Kuki-Zo Council issued a statement expressing “grave concern,” framing the resettlement in what they called the “Torbung buffer zone” as a provocative act aimed at disrupting peace during the Christmas season.
In response to the continuing instability,a group of women activists announced an indefinite bandh (shutdown) across Manipur. They declared that protests would persist until a formal, mutually accepted agreement is reached between the Meitei and Kuki communities to end the conflict.
Separately, Samarou Naorem Apunba Meira paibi & Samarou IDP Members launched a sharp critique of the central government. Samarou Naorem Apunba Meira paibi Secretary Oinam Chaoba chanu accused the Centre of a “divide and rule” policy, alleging tacit complicity or failure in preventing such attacks. He lamented the lack of a concrete rehabilitation plan for thousands of IDPs who have lived in relief camps for over three years.
Amid the fresh tensions,the Union Government, via a notification dated December 16, extended the tenure of the Commission of Inquiry investigating the 2023 #Manipur_Ethnic_Violence. Headed by former #GauhatiHighCourt Chief Justice Ajai Lamba, the panel’s deadline has been pushed to May 20, 2026—the fifth such extension. The commission is examining the causes, spread, and administrative lapses of the violence that began in May 2023.
This development follows recent political engagements, including meetings between Meitei and Kuki #BJP MLAs with the party’s central leadership in Delhi and tripartite talks involving the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kuki militant groups under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement.
Official Response & Lingering Questions
Authorities have deployed additional security forces to the affected areas in Bishnupur,and investigations are ongoing. However, the attack has raised urgent, uncomfortable questions about security preparedness in buffer zones, the effectiveness of peace talks, and perceived imbalances in disarmament efforts between communities.
With IDPs now fearing a second flight from their homes, the incident underscores the profound challenges facing Manipur’s path to peace, highlighting the gap between high-level political dialogue and the volatile reality on the ground.
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