3/25/2025 India (International Christian Concern) — Fresh ethnic violence recently erupted in the northeastern state of Manipur, India, between the Christian Kuki-Zo and Hindu Meiteis tribal people, rekindling the embers of past violence into a raging fire.
On March 18, a 51-year-old man from the Hmar community belonging to the Meiteis was killed during the clashes that also left several people injured in the hilly regions of the Churachandpur district of Manipur, where most of the Kuki-Zo tribal people are located.
The roots of the violent ethnoreligious clashes can be traced back to 2023, when the two largest groups, the majority Hindu Meitei and the minority Christian Kuki-Zo, battled over land and influence.
The initial fighting occurred after the Manipur High Court passed an order in April 2023 that seemingly recommended Scheduled Tribe status for the dominant Meitei community. This decision was later criticized by the Supreme Court of India, but only after the violence had begun.
The Kukis’s argument was that such a status for the Meitei would strengthen their already strong influence on government and society, allowing them to buy land or settle in predominantly Kuki areas.
Meiteis mostly live in the Imphal Valley, where the capital city is located, while the Kukis live in the surrounding hills and beyond.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which governs the country, also ran the state government in Manipur during the violence. However, the federal government imposed president’s rule in the state on Feb. 13 after Manipur’s Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, a Meitei, resigned as chief minister after the prolonged violence.
While the conflict has been ethnic in nature, there has been an underlying communal element to the ongoing violence that has not been acknowledged publicly.
Nearly 400 religious places — a majority of which are churches — have been burned down in systematic attacks of looting, arson, and violence against women, including rape.
About 250 people were killed, and more than 50,000 were displaced, most of whom are Christians still living in relief shelters.
After the latest violence, security personnel conducted flag marches to prevent further violence. Several displaced people from the Kuki community living in relief camps were moved to safer locations.
Following this violence, six legislators from the suspended legislative assembly and tribal organizations separately appealed for peace. The six legislators issued a joint statement pleading for peace.
“Let us remember that we have been going through the most critical and difficult times in our history, and we have been fighting for our rights shoulder to shoulder as one,” the statement read. “Let us all invoke the Christian values of forgiveness to resolve the ongoing misunderstanding among us in the interest of our community and for posterity.”
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