Manipur's Displaced People Try To Rebuild Lives Amid Gunfire From The Hills

Hundreds of people who had been living in relief camps in Manipur's valley areas for over two years returned to their village near the foothills in Bishnupur district on Monday. District officials accompanied them as they walked toward the structures they once called home - most of them dilapidated - and which they haven't seen since May 2023.

On Tuesday night, 24 hours into the effort to rebuild their lives, the villagers heard the sound of automatic gunfire coming from the hills. They had to leave again.

The Border Security Force (BSF) fired back a few warning rounds in retaliation minutes after the sound of gunfire first came from the direction of the hills at 8.30 pm, sources said. No one was injured.

While no group or individual claimed responsibility, the villagers who are from the Meitei community alleged Kuki gunmen fired at them to scare them into leaving the area. They alleged that on Wednesday morning they found small craters in their fields where crude mortar rounds (locally known as pumpi) fell.

The Manipur Police in a statement this evening said a first information report (FIR) has been filed "in connection with the indiscriminate firing by Kuki armed groups at Torbung last night."

In connection with the indiscriminate firing by Kuki armed groups at Torbung last night, FIR has been registered for further investigation in this regard.
Security has been beefed up in and around the area, and joint security forces are carrying out intensive combing operations… pic.twitter.com/qldIbBUw0b

— Manipur Police (@manipur_police) December 17, 2025

The village in Bishnupur is near the inter-district border with Churachandpur, where the Kuki tribes are dominant. This area saw intense violence at the peak of the ethnic conflict in 2023.

The firing incident came just days after President Droupadi Murmu's two-day visit to Manipur, and her appeal for peace, understanding, and reconciliation in the state where, according to her, "the hills and the valley have always complemented each other", and whose "strength lies in its diversity, its culture, languages, and traditions."

'Security Failure Under President's Rule'

Meitei and Kuki civil society organisations in statements blamed each other's community for creating the situation.

The Kuki Zo Council (KZC) cited the need for a solution to their demand for a separate administration before anyone from any community can return home.

The Meitei Alliance, Meitei Heritage Society, and the umbrella body of the state's Meitei civil society organisations COCOMI cited violation of constitutional rights of citizens with impunity in front of central forces and amid the President's rule.

The Manipur Police's statement that mentioned "indiscriminate firing by Kuki armed groups" and the FIR filed over the matter made it obvious who fired at the villagers from the hilltops, the Meitei civil society organisations said.

The KZC, which has been in talks with the central government for carving a separate 'Kukiland' from Manipur, said the Bishnupur deputy commissioner supporting the resettlement of Meitei IDPs (internally displaced persons) is "deeply irresponsible and provocative".

"... The Kuki-Zo Council rejects any attempt to blame the Kuki-Zo for tensions arising from unilateral administrative actions and violations of buffer-zone protocols… Peace will come only through a political solution. The government of India must recognise the reality that the Kuki-Zo people have been effectively separated from Manipur and accord them a separate administrative arrangement that they rightfully deserve," KZC spokesperson Ginza Vualzong, who was with the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) earlier before the KZC took lead in talks with the Centre, said in a statement on Wednesday.

No other Kuki organisation gave a statement on the incident.

The Meitei Alliance, an influential global umbrella body of the Meitei community, in a statement said the incident sent a dangerous signal that armed extremist forces can operate with impunity, even under central administration, and that peace declarations remain meaningless without enforcement on the ground.

"This attack was a deliberate, organised, and premeditated act of terror as part of the wider ethnocentric politics that caused the Manipur crisis, carried out with the clear intent to instil fear, sabotage reconciliation, and violently prevent displaced citizens from exercising their fundamental right to return to their homes," the Meitei Alliance, which has been engaged in talks with other communities like a section of the Thadou tribe led by tribal leader Michael Lamjathang Thadou for co-existence in a pluralistic Manipur,  said in the statement.

"The timing of the attack - occurring immediately after a high-level security review by the Director General of Police and under the direct administration of President's rule - represents a grave and alarming failure of governance, intelligence, and civilian protection," the Meitei Alliance said.

The Meitei Heritage Society (MHS)  said the "timing and nature of the attack clearly indicate a deliberate attempt to create fear, panic, and insecurity among resettled IDPs and to sabotage any effort by the government to facilitate resettlement, restore normalcy, and ensure peace."

"As has been evident, the ongoing Manipur crisis has been systematically orchestrated by a handful of militant groups, aided by proxy politicians and certain civil society organisations, to destabilise Manipur and undermine India's sovereignty… We are shocked, but not surprised, to see certain self-styled Chin-Kuki CSO groups denouncing the resettlement process, an initiative that any right-thinking group would welcome. This stance reaffirms their role as proxies of divisive forces and complete disregard for repeated calls from  their own IDPs who are yearning to return to their homes," the MHS said in a statement.

Our Press Release: Meitei Heritage Society condemns attack on Meitei settlements in Torbung (Bishnupur District); Demands Immediate Action against Chin Kuki Armed Groups.

The attack is particularly alarming, as Meitei Internally Displaced Persons had resettled in
the area… pic.twitter.com/4SyR7qRViQ

— Meitei Heritage Society (@meiteiheritage) December 17, 2025

The Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), which has also held talks with the Home Ministry over the Manipur crisis, alleged the KZC statement was "public justification of violence."

"What exacerbates this grave situation is the public statement issued by Ginza Vualzong, a leader of the Kuki-Zo Council, in which he allegedly: justified and rationalised the attack, offered inflammatory allegations, and made statements likely to provoke further unrest and incite violence.

"COCOMI views such public defence of armed violence as an affront to constitutional values and democratic norms. Statements that morally endorse terroristic acts threaten public safety, embolden armed actors, and may constitute criminal incitement and abetment under Indian law.

It alleged that armed groups continue to operate with apparent impunity in Churachandpur, a district in southern Manipur categorised as a hill area and where the Kuki tribes are dominant. The COCOMI said leaders who publicly justify violence face no visible deterrents, and there is a growing perception of selective enforcement, undermining public confidence in the rule of law and the impartial application of justice as envisaged by the Constitution.

The Meitei-Kuki ethnic violence began over a range of issues such as land rights and political representation. Over 260 have died in the violence and nearly 50,000 have been internally displaced.

The 10 MLAs from the hill districts, the multitude of civil society organisations, and the two dozen insurgent groups under the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement have all come on the same stage in demanding the break-up of Manipur in the form of a separate administration.

While both communities have stopped fighting, Kuki tribe organisations have not expressed confidence of returning to the valley, citing their lived experiences of the May 2023 violence. Because of this condition, they have also not agreed on allowing Meitei IDPs to return to their homes and villages in Kuki-dominant districts.

Meitei civil society organisations say all internally displaced people should be made to return safely, while talks can go on. But Kuki leaders have demanded a political solution in the form of a separate administration before any other issues, including the return of thousands of people living in relief camps, can be discussed.

Meitei leaders have cited this condition to allege that Kuki leaders are engineering an ethnocentric homeland demand; the Meiteis' argument is that talks can go on while at the same time people living in difficult conditions in the camps can also return home since no territory is ethnic exclusive.